Trump tells whether U.S. would join output-cut deal

U.S. President Donald Trump gave the strongest signal yet the U.S. might not join Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major producers in coordinated oil-production cuts, even as plunging crude prices put thousands of American shale jobs at risk.

While OPEC and its allies prepare for a meeting on Thursday to forge an unprecedented output-cut deal, Trump told reporters in Washington that the free market would work to curb American production.

"I think the cuts are automatic if you are a believer in markets,"he said.

He added that the U.S. hasn’t been asked to participate in a global deal. "Nobody’s asked me," Trump said. "If they ask me I’ll make a decision," the U.S. leader told reporters.

Asked whether the U.S. would join other major producers in curbing production,  he said the cuts were “happening automatically.”

"It’s supply and demand. They are cutting back very seriously," Bloomberg cited the U.S. president as saying.