Harold Hamm, one of the most prominent figures in the American oil industry, rose from a family of Oklahoma sharecroppers to build a multibillion-dollar fortune through energy exploration.
The founder of Continental Resources became known as a successful “wildcatter” and helped develop hydraulic-fracturing methods that fuelled the 2008 shale boom, reversing years of declining oil production in the United States.
President Donald Trump has publicly described Hamm as a longtime friend and has reportedly referred to him privately as his original adviser from the oil industry.
However, environmental organizations, climate campaigners and some Democratic lawmakers have raised concerns about Hamm’s influence over Trump’s energy agenda, including the administration’s support for fossil-fuel expansion and efforts to remove climate regulations.
Hamm’s Longstanding Influence on U.S. Energy Policy
Hamm played a major role in the campaign to end the United States’ 40-year ban on crude oil exports in 2015.
The policy change opened international markets to American producers and proved financially beneficial for companies such as Continental Resources.
In recent years, critics have primarily focused on Hamm’s domestic political activities and relationship with Trump.
The 80-year-old oil executive helped arrange a private fundraising event at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in 2024. During the gathering, Trump was reportedly said to have asked oil industry leaders to contribute $1 billion toward his effort to return to the White House.
Hamm has donated more than $2 million to Trump’s three presidential campaigns. He has also reportedly provided an undisclosed amount toward financing Trump’s new ballroom project.
Less Attention Given to Hamm’s Views on Iran and Israel
While Hamm’s influence on climate and energy policy has received significant scrutiny, less attention has been paid to his positions on Israel, Iran and the relationship between American oil production and Middle Eastern security.
Trump later repeated several similar arguments while defending the war against Iran that began in February and while minimizing its potential effect on U.S. gasoline and oil prices.
For years, Hamm has argued that Iran represents a threat to both Israel and the United States. He has also promoted domestic oil production as a national-security tool and supported stronger relations between Washington and Israel.
Hamm Said Iran Must Face Consequences
In a 2018 National Review essay co-written by Hamm, he argued that Iran was responsible for spreading hostile rhetoric that contributed to antisemitism.
He also stated that Tehran should face consequences for repeatedly attempting to destabilize the Middle East.
The essay predicted that expanding American production would allow the United States to supply enough oil to stabilize world markets regardless of events in countries such as Iran.
Hamm further claimed that closing the Strait of Hormuz would no longer be capable of cutting off the flow of petroleum to the United States.
That prediction has since become central to arguments made by Trump administration officials about the country’s ability to withstand disruptions in the Middle East.
Council for a Secure America Links Energy and National Security
A major vehicle for Hamm’s foreign-policy activities has been the Council for a Secure America, commonly known as CSA.
The Reagan-era nonprofit had become inactive before Hamm relaunched it in 2012. He continues to serve as the organization’s co-chair.
Based in New York City, CSA described Iran as a looming existential danger in its founding mission statement.
Its membership includes American oil executives, former Israeli officials, former White House representatives and prominent national-security figures, including one of the intellectual architects associated with the Iraq war.
The group’s founding statement argues that achieving American energy dominance would strengthen national security by freeing the country from dependence on foreign sources.
CSA Registered as a Public Charity
The Council for a Secure America is registered as a public charity.
Under federal law, such organizations cannot devote a substantial portion of their work to lobbying or participate in political campaigns supporting or opposing candidates.
CSA says its role is to educate important audiences about how domestic energy production and new technologies contribute to the shared national-security interests of the United States and Israel.
The organization denies advocating for or against specific military operations.
Hundreds of Briefings Held With U.S. Lawmakers
CSA’s annual reports reveal the scale of its activities in Washington.
During the approximately 30 months between the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the council conducted at least 300 briefings with lawmakers from both major political parties and their staff members.
The nonprofit also arranged dozens of discussions described as high-level meetings with American and Israeli security specialists.
In addition, it organized several off-the-record gatherings involving dignitaries from the United States and other countries.
Chris Wright and Doug Burgum Met CSA Members
Among the individuals who participated in CSA-related meetings was Chris Wright, a former hydraulic-fracturing executive who later became Trump’s energy secretary.
Publicly available records also show that members of the council privately met Doug Burgum when he was governor of North Dakota. Burgum currently serves as Trump’s interior secretary.
Wright or Burgum met members of the organization on at least four occasions during the past three years.
One of those meetings occurred at a private dinner hosted by Burgum in North Dakota in May 2024.
Hamm Joined Trump Energy Officials at Private Dinner
At the North Dakota gathering, Hamm, Burgum, Wright and Wright’s wife accounted for half of the guests seated at the head table.
Attendees were served walleye cakes, a beef main course and peach cobbler.
Alcohol was reportedly supplied by Ron Ness, president of a North Dakota petroleum industry organization and a CSA partner.
At least three additional CSA members attended the event.
Wright’s most recently known meeting with the organization occurred at Argentina’s embassy in Washington, D.C., in May 2025.
CSA Denies Lobbying for Military Action
The Council for a Secure America did not challenge the reported details of the investigation but declined to respond to individual questions regarding its work.
CSA executive director Jennifer Sutton said in a statement that the organization does not lobby either in favour of or against military operations.
She said its purpose is to educate people about the strategic value of American energy security.
According to Sutton, domestic energy contributes to economic stability, strengthens national security and can support peaceful international outcomes by increasing economic prosperity.
Critics Call Hamm Trump’s “Oil Whisperer”
Public-interest organizations that have followed Hamm’s political influence say he has played an important role in shaping Trump’s approach to energy since the president’s first campaign.
Tyson Slocum, energy director at Public Citizen, described Hamm as the oil industry figure speaking directly into Trump’s ear on energy matters.
Slocum argued that Hamm communicates in a way Trump understands and shares much of his worldview.
He suggested Trump may have adopted policy positions that he would not necessarily have reached without Hamm’s involvement.
EPA Climate Decision Seen as Victory for Hamm
One of Hamm’s recent policy successes was the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to withdraw the scientific determination that provides the legal foundation for nearly all federal climate regulations.
Hamm’s trade organization, the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, had pushed for the reversal.
Some other major oil and gas companies had reportedly become less supportive of eliminating the finding because doing so could complicate their attempts to defeat climate-related lawsuits.
Since returning to office, Trump has hosted Hamm at the Oval Office on at least two publicly known occasions.
Trump Praised Hamm During Oil Industry Meeting
In January, Hamm attended a White House roundtable with American petroleum executives following Trump’s military action in Venezuela, which removed Nicolás Maduro from power.
During the meeting, Trump described Hamm as an exceptional energy expert.
The president also asked whether stories were true that Hamm could identify oil-rich land simply by looking at it and placing a drilling pipe into the ground.
Hamm supported the American intervention in Venezuela, although his public advocacy and CSA’s work have concentrated more heavily on Iran and the broader Middle East.
CSA Issued Iran-Focused “War Reports”
Following the Hamas attacks in 2023, CSA began publishing documents it called “War Reports.”
The reports emphasized Iran’s connections with Hamas and Hezbollah and warned that Iranian-backed groups could potentially carry out terrorist operations within the United States.
In 2024, the organization started commissioning surveys in Republican-leaning states.
According to CSA, the polling showed support among American voters for U.S. military participation in the region.
After American and Israeli forces bombed Iran in June 2025, Sutton described the confrontation as an important test of Western determination against authoritarian aggression.
CSA Describes Oil and Pro-Israel Partnership
CSA describes itself as an alliance connecting the American oil and natural gas industry with the pro-Israel community.
Its members include Dustin Meyer, a senior vice-president at the American Petroleum Institute.
Other participants include Elliott Abrams, a longtime Republican national-security adviser associated with planning for the Iraq war; former Trump secretary of state Mike Pompeo; former Democratic senator Evan Bayh; and Yossi Kuperwasser, a reserve brigadier general who previously directed research for Israeli military intelligence.
Hamm Revived Organization After Years of Inactivity
Hamm revived CSA in 2012 after the organization had remained dormant following its successful effort to protect federal tax benefits for oil drilling during the 1980s.
Soon after being relaunched, the council began organizing trips to Israel for American oil executives.
Participants met senior government officials and visited military and religious sites.
During a February 2013 visit, Hamm and other members toured an Israeli military base, visited the Western Wall and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The trip was documented by local journalists and photographs previously displayed on CSA’s website.
Several “CSA Friends” Now Serve in Trump Administration
The council has also built an informal group of supporters it refers to as “CSA friends” or the “CSA family.”
Four people associated with this network currently serve in the Trump administration, including Wright.
Both Wright and Burgum have been longtime allies of Hamm.
Hamm praised their appointments as Trump’s leading energy officials, calling them a dream team of extraordinary proportions.
Before the conflict with Iran began, Wright and Burgum repeated Hamm’s prediction that military action would not significantly affect American energy costs.
Trump Officials Claimed Hormuz Conflict Would Not Raise Prices
During an appearance at a Washington think tank in late 2025, Burgum recalled Trump asking advisers how strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities would affect the energy market.
According to Burgum, officials told the president there would be no impact on gasoline prices.
He argued that the United States no longer relied on crude oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump made a similar statement after starting the Iran war in February, claiming that the United States did not use or require the strategic waterway.
White House Says Trump Makes Final Decisions
The White House declined to state publicly whether Hamm had personally discussed Iran with Trump.
However, officials emphasized that Trump remained the ultimate decision-maker.
The administration said Trump had consistently maintained that Iran must never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said Trump makes decisions according to what he believes will benefit the American public.
She said the administration’s energy-dominance strategy was intended to lower consumer prices while strengthening national security.
Rogers also rejected media suggestions of conflicts of interest, describing them as irresponsible attempts that further reduce public confidence in journalism.
Continental Initially Halted New North Dakota Drilling
In January, as American oil prices moved close to their lowest levels since the pandemic, Hamm announced that Continental Resources would stop drilling new wells in North Dakota.
It would have marked the first time during the 21st century that his company had no operational drilling rig in the state where he built much of his wealth.
At the time, Hamm said continued drilling made little economic sense because profit margins had largely disappeared.
Hamm Reversed Course as Oil Prices Increased
Several months later, Hamm changed that strategy.
In May, he announced that Continental Resources would raise investment and production spending to benefit from higher energy prices.
It was reportedly the first American petroleum company to publicly say it planned to increase output because of the Iran war.
With U.S. crude trading near $100 per barrel—more than 60% higher for the year—Hamm said producers were no longer giving their petroleum away cheaply.
Oil Prices Rose Again After Temporary Truce
Oil prices briefly returned to levels recorded before the war after a temporary U.S.-Iran ceasefire was reached last month.
Prices later increased again as the two sides resumed exchanging military strikes.
The confrontation has already imposed substantial costs on American consumers.
Researchers at Brown University estimated that people in the United States had collectively paid at least $67 billion more for fuel because of the war.
Meanwhile, American oil producers have reported large windfall profits during the year.
Experts Say U.S. Oil Remains Tied to Global Prices
Energy specialists argue that U.S. crude prices have largely followed international market movements because American petroleum is bought and sold globally.
Michael Klare, a professor emeritus with the Five Colleges consortium who has written extensively about oil and foreign policy, said the United States cannot separate itself from the global petroleum economy.
He explained that severe interruptions to the worldwide oil supply would still affect American consumers, even when the country has sufficient domestic production.
Such disruptions can raise local fuel prices and create strategic problems for U.S. allies that remain dependent on international supplies.
Critics Challenge Claims of “Energy Dominance”
Hamm’s critics argue that he should understand the connection between domestic and global prices because of his role in ending the U.S. crude export ban.
Aaron Weiss, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities, said energy dominance was never truly about reducing prices for American households.
He argued that the policy was designed to provide Hamm and other producers with more petroleum to export abroad.
According to Weiss, the Iran conflict has exposed weaknesses in Trump’s claims that high American production could completely shield consumers from disruptions in the global market.
Continental Resources did not respond to a request for comment.
Hamm Says He Does Not Feel Bad About Fuel Costs
Hamm has publicly indicated that he is not troubled by higher oil and gasoline prices.
In May, he said he did not feel sorry for motorists paying more at the pump.
Hamm pointed to drivers using trucks costing around $80,000 while gasoline was priced at approximately $4 per gallon.
He argued that the effect of fuel costs should be viewed relative to consumers’ other expenses.
Hamm’s personal fortune has been estimated at approximately $20 billion.
Harold Hamm’s career has placed him at the intersection of American energy production, Republican politics and U.S. foreign policy.
His close relationship with Donald Trump, involvement with the Council for a Secure America and longstanding arguments about Iran and energy independence have made him a powerful voice within the administration’s broader strategy.
Supporters say expanded domestic production strengthens economic and national security. Critics argue that Hamm’s influence benefits oil producers while failing to protect American consumers from global price increases.
The Iran war and its effect on gasoline costs have intensified that debate, showing that even a major oil-producing country remains connected to disruptions across the international energy market.