The Carlyle Group, the private equity giant run by longtime Obama-Biden ally David Rubenstein, is trying to acquire a significant stake in Russian oil producer Lukoil. The Trump Administration should kill this deal rather than allowing Rubenstein and his woke friends to take control of this sensitive asset with direct implications for U.S. economic and national security.
If approved, the deal would give Carlyle control over billions of dollars in global energy production through a company that, according to the U.S. Treasury Department, “engages in the exploration, production, refining, marketing, and distribution of oil and gas in Russia and internationally.” In other words, one of the world’s largest oil producers could soon be partially controlled by a firm deeply tied to the Obama-Biden political network, which should concern every American who cares about energy independence and national security.
President Trump has been working to end the war in Ukraine while navigating a complex sanctions regime that was originally imposed during the Biden years. Now, as those sanctions and geopolitical shifts reshape global markets, the Carlyle Group appears positioned to benefit from the upheaval by acquiring strategic energy assets.
If the deal proceeds, Carlyle could quickly become a major player in international oil production. This is troubling given the political loyalties of the firm’s leadership. Calling Carlyle co-founder and co-chairman David Rubenstein an Obama-Biden ally would be an understatement.
Rubenstein has long operated inside the inner circle of the Democrat political establishment. In 2023, he hosted Joe Biden and members of the Biden family for Thanksgiving at his elite Nantucket estate. Biden later returned the favor by awarding Rubenstein the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025.
The relationship between Rubenstein and the Biden political machine goes back years. In 2024, while Americans were struggling with inflation and economic instability, Rubenstein and the Carlyle Group hosted Biden at the prestigious Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
Rubenstein’s ties to Barack Obama are equally deep. Obama reappointed Rubenstein to the Kennedy Center Board after he had initially been appointed by President George W. Bush.
President Trump later removed Rubenstein from the board earlier this year. The decision now looks increasingly justified, and blocking this deal is the natural next step in President Trump’s effort to root out the Obama-Biden apparatus that worked from within his own administration to impeach him during his first term. If David Rubenstein gets his way and more Democrats are elected than Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm elections later this year, then it will be a repeat of the impeachment farce(s) of his first term.
Rubenstein has repeatedly lashed out at President Trump. In August 2025, he publicly suggested that American CEOs were too afraid to criticize Trump’s policies, comparing Trump’s leadership style to that of a king. Years earlier, Rubenstein accused Trump of “assaulting democracy” during his first term.
At the same time, Carlyle has fully embraced the ideological agenda of the modern Left. The firm openly promotes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives on its corporate website, boasting about its commitment to “fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion.” The company also highlights internal groups dedicated to “multicultural” and LGBTQ employees and promotes hiring pipelines focused on HBCU and diversity programs.
Why should a politically connected firm that promotes the same ideological agenda that drove the Biden administration’s disastrous energy policies be allowed to gain influence over a major share of the world’s oil supply?
Americans watched the consequences of the Biden administration’s war on domestic energy. Gas prices soared with people even adding stickers of Biden to gas pumps saying “I did that.” Strategic reserves were drained. And U.S. energy security was weakened.
Now a private equity firm run by one of Biden’s closest billionaire allies appears poised to gain influence over a massive global oil producer. This is a geopolitical and national security issue.
President Trump and federal regulators should take a hard look at the implications of this deal before allowing it to proceed. Handing strategic energy influence to politically connected billionaires aligned with the Obama-Biden network would be a mistake the United States cannot afford.
