New York (CNN Business)President Donald Trump has long cast OPECas an evil force ripping Americans off by not pumping enough oil.Now he's pleading with Saudi Arabia and Russia to stop pumping somuch oil. In the past, Trump has called OPEC a \"monopoly\" (it'snot) that must be broken up. \"They are robbing our country blind,\"he tweeted in November 2012. Since winning the presidency, Trumphas repeatedly hammered OPEC for engineering higher oil prices tohurt American drivers. Donald Trump cannot win reelection withoutTexas. It's as simple as that.\" GREG VALLIERE, CHIEF US POLICYSTRATEGIST AT AGF INVESTMENTS \"OPEC, please relax and take it easy.World cannot take a price hike -- fragile!\" the president tweetedin February 2019. Flash forward to 2020: Instead of slamming OPECfor artificially restraining production, Trump is urging the cartelto do just that. And rather than calling for OPEC to be broken up,Trump is elevating the group's status by encouraging it to stop theoil crash one that threatens to set off a surge of bankruptcies andjob losses in Texas and throughout America's oil industry. Trump iseven attempting to broker an agreement between Saudi Arabia andRussia to end their devastating price war by massively cuttingproduction. The president's tweets on the subject Thursday helpedUS oil prices to spike 25% -- their biggest one-day gain inhistory. \"It's amazing to have Trump get in the middle of this,\"Helima Croft, head of global commodity strategy at RBC CapitalMarkets, told CNN Business. \"Think about the 180: For years, Trumphated collusion among the producers and wanted to get rid of OPEC.\"Texas is a huge prize in 2020 That reversal reflects shiftingpolitical realities. The coronavirus pandemic is causing millionsof job losses ahead of the November presidential election. Aprolonged downturn in the US oil industry would only amplify theeconomic pain, especially in Republican-leaning states. \"What haschanged is the political equation: Donald Trump cannot winreelection without Texas. It's as simple as that,\" said GregValliere, chief US policy strategist at AGF Investments. Oil pricesspike by a record 25% as Trump talks up huge production cuts andSaudi Arabia calls for OPEC meeting Not only is Texas thesecond-biggest electoral prize (after California), it's also by farthe nation's largest oil producer. In fact, Texas pumps more oilthan every OPEC nation not named Saudi Arabia. But Texas is gettingcrushed by cheap oil. Russia, seeking to blunt the rise of US shaleoil producers, refused last month to cut oil production. SaudiArabia responded by surging output and slashing prices. Reflectingthe urgency of the moment, Trump is meeting with the CEOs ofExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron and other leading US oil companies Fridayto discuss the crisis facing the industry. Navigating thissituation is a delicate balance. The White House doesn't want oilbankruptcies and job losses on its hands. But Trump doesn't want tobe seen helping oil CEOs and Saudi Arabia at the expense of averageAmericans who want cheap gas prices. 'I would always raise hellwith OPEC' The president has acknowledged his evolving views. \"Youalways get a little torn,\" Trump said on March 20. \"Until we becamethe leading producer, I was always for the person driving the carand filling up the tank of gas...If (prices were too high, I wouldalways raise hell with OPEC.\" Now the oil crash is setting off realturmoil in the energy industry. Whiting Petroleum (WLL), a formerrising star in the shale industry, this week became the first ofwhat will surely be a wave of US oil companies to file forbankruptcy during this crisis. Nearly 100 US oil and gas producerscould file for Chapter 11 over the next year, Buddy Clark, co-chairof the energy practice at Houston law firm Haynes and Boone, toldCNN Business. And that may be the optimistic view. Rystad Energywarned this week that 140 US oil producers could file forbankruptcy this year if oil stays at $20 a barrel, followed byanother 400 in 2021. Even the largest oil companies are cuttingback. Debt-ridden Occidental Petroleum (OXY) slashed its dividendby 86% and announced pay cuts across the entire company. Chevron(CVX) is cutting production and spending in hopes of avoiding itsfirst dividend cut since the Great Depression. \"We have a great oilindustry, and the oil industry is being ravaged,\" Trump saidWednesday during a press briefing. \"We don't want to lose our greatoil companies.\" Will Texas cap output? Now there is a debateplaying out over whether and even how the United States shouldintervene in the oil war. Some independent oil producers arepushing Texas to -- for the first time in more than 40 years --limit the state's output. A wave of oil bankruptcies is on the wayRyan Sitton, a commissioner on the Railroad Commission of Texas,the state's energy regulator, even held a call Thursday withRussia's energy minister to discuss options. \"While we normallycompete,\" Sitton said in a tweet, \"we agreed that #COVID19 requiresunprecedented levels of int'l cooperation.\" He added that he willspeak to Saudi Arabia's energy minister soon. Shale pioneer HaroldHamm and others are pushing for Trump, the self-proclaimed \"TariffMan,\" to sanction OPEC by enacting tariffs that would punish Russiaand Saudi Arabia for their ruinous oil war. But the AmericanPetroleum Institute, the nation's largest oil lobby, is urgingTrump to avoid intervening in free markets. Trump has so far takenmodest steps, including instructing the Energy Department to takeadvantage of cheap prices by filling up the nation's emergencystockpile of crude. Debate over free markets OPEC has signaled itisn't willing to keep cutting production -- unless other countriesjoin in and do so, too. The cartel will meet via video conferenceMonday with Russia and other countries outside the alliance, twosources at the OPEC secretariat told CNN Business. Although thefinal list of invitees has not yet been set, the United States,Canada and Mexico could reportedly be invited. But it's not clearhow the United States would enact its own production cuts. USoutput is controlled by thousands of different companies across thenation who all have their own competing interests. The ironycalling on OPEC to come to the rescue is that Trump and others foryears have complained that OPEC distorts free markets. And Now thatSaudi Arabia and Russia have stopped artificially restraining theirproduction, they're being urged to step back in to calm markets.\"This is the free market. We are living in the world of NOPEC rightnow,\" RBC's Croft said. \"OPEC's cuts gave US producers a vitallifeline. Now that the lifeline has been withdrawn, you havefigures in Washington wanting sanctions against OPEC.\" The abovearticle was published on April 3, 2020 on CNN Business News. Readthe article carefully and answer the questions below. (Do it byyourself). Q1. What are the major points in this article. Q2. Howdo you see the role of OPEC from the above article.