Hamm changes mind—contributes to Trump’s presidential campaign

 

Oklahoma oilman Harold Hamm hasn’t apparently given up on Donald Trump winning the White House again.

He’s listed as a donor to Trump’s ongoing campaign to win re-election for a second term. Bloomberg reported Hamm is listed as a donor on the latest campaign finance disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Bloomberg called Hamm’s contribution a “major victory for Trump” because the billionaire oilman had previously said he didn’t think the former president could win the 2024 election and instead, he would back other GOP candidates.

Hamm was a major supporter of Donald Trump when he won the White House and reportedly was considered to be named Energy Secretary.

Word of Hamm’s contribution comes as he is about to observe the first anniversary of taking Continental Resources back private. It was November of 2022 when he reclaimed control of the company he founded 55 years ago, and did so with an offer of $4.3 billion for shares he and his family owned. Hamm and his family had already owned nearly 83% of Continental’s stock.

“It was something we needed to do,” he told a recent audience at the OERB Oil and Gas Expo in Oklahoma City, explaining it freed the company from devoting time worrying about public investments.

“Actually, we found out we have time for work,” he laughed, adding, “Our next quarter is 25 years and I’ll be around.”

It also gave him time to write his book, “Game Changer: Our Fifty-year Mission to Secure America’s Energy Independence.”

“It tells a story that hasn’t been told—horizontal drilling. Nobody told that story. Somebody had to tell it,” said Hamm, explaining some disparaging books had been written but not about the real development of the drilling that opened up a new and expanded production of shale oil.

“Telling the story is very important to the public. They need to understand our industry.”