Harold Hamm, the Oklahoma-born fracking pioneer who transformed American energy production, has quietly become one of Donald Trump's most influential foreign policy advisers, despite his public profile as an energy executive rather than a diplomat or security expert.
Trump has privately called Hamm his "original oil guy," and the Continental Resources founder has leveraged that relationship to shape the administration's approach to Iran, Israel, and Middle East conflict. His influence became especially pronounced following the US decision to launch military strikes against Iran in February, which Hamm and his network had aggressively promoted for years.
The 80-year-old billionaire channels much of his geopolitical influence through the Council for a Secure America, a nonprofit he relaunched in 2012 after it lay dormant since the 1980s. The organization, which lists itself as focused on educating policymakers about energy security, operates as what one of its members describes as "an alliance between the American oil and gas industry and the pro-Israel community."
Between October 2023 and the start of the Iran war, CSA conducted at least 300 briefings with lawmakers from both parties and their staff. The group also organized dozens of high-level meetings with US and Israeli security officials, as well as closed-door sessions with key Trump administration figures.
Among those figures are Chris Wright, now energy secretary and formerly a fracking executive, and Doug Burgum, Trump's interior secretary and former North Dakota governor. Public records show Hamm met privately with Wright or Burgum at least four times over three years, including at a May 2024 dinner in North Dakota where Hamm, Burgum, Wright, and Wright's wife occupied half the head table alongside other CSA members.
In a 2018 National Review essay, Hamm argued that US domestic oil production would insulate America from Middle Eastern volatility. He predicted the nation would "be capable of providing enough oil to help stabilize the global market, no matter what happens in countries such as Iran" and that "no longer is it the case that the flow of oil to the United States will be stifled if the Strait of Hormuz is shut down."
After Trump took office, both Burgum and Wright echoed this prediction publicly. Speaking at a Washington thinktank in fall 2025, Burgum recounted how Trump asked before ordering Iran strikes what impact they would have on US energy prices. The answer his advisers gave: "Nothing. Nothing at all."
That prediction has not held. Americans have paid an estimated $67 billion in additional fuel costs since the war began, while US oil companies have posted windfall profits. Oil prices have moved in lockstep with global markets because American crude is sold internationally, making the nation unable to escape the economic consequences of Middle Eastern conflict regardless of domestic production levels.
By January, as oil prices sank to post-pandemic lows, Hamm announced Continental Resources would halt new drilling in North Dakota for the first time this century. But he reversed course in May, announcing the company would boost spending as war-driven energy prices climbed above $100 per barrel. "We're not giving it away now," Hamm said, marking the first time a major US oil company publicly credited the conflict with its production expansion.
Hamm's network inside the Trump administration extends beyond energy officials. CSA's current roster includes former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, former Democratic senator Evan Bayh, Elliott Abrams, an architect of the Iraq War and longtime GOP national security adviser, and Yossi Kuperwasser, an Israeli reserve brigadier general who previously led his country's military intelligence research.
The organization has issued a series of reports linking Iran to Hamas and Hezbollah, commissioned polls in Republican-leaning states showing voter support for military action in the region, and declared US-Israeli bombing of Iran in June 2025 "a defining test of Western resolve."
CSA's executive director, Jennifer Sutton, defended the group's activities in a statement, saying it "does not lobby for or against military actions" and instead focuses on educating policymakers about the "strategic importance of US energy security." The organization did not dispute specific details about its operations or provide additional comment beyond that prepared statement.
The White House declined to confirm whether Hamm spoke directly with Trump about Iran policy but said the president "has been remarkably consistent for years" in opposing Iranian nuclear weapons development and that Trump makes decisions "based on what is best for the American people."
Hamm's influence extends beyond foreign policy. His oil trade group successfully pushed the Environmental Protection Agency this year to revoke the scientific finding underlying nearly all federal climate regulations, a move some other energy executives have questioned.
Author James Rodriguez: "Hamm's network has successfully packaged Middle East adventurism as energy policy, but the math is brutal: Americans are paying billions extra for gas because of a war that supposedly wouldn't raise prices at all."
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