Boy, the United States could really use an experienced deal-maker in the White House right around now.

Russia is about to open its Nord Stream 2. That 500-mile-long pipeline will deliver natural gas from the Russian state-owned Gazprom into Germany while circumventing eastern European nations. That’s a double whammy, because it makes the heart of the European Union more reliant on Russian exports while also denying energy (and revenue from transit fees) to Ukraine and Poland. When the project is completed, Russia could supply up to 80 percent of Germany’s natural gas consumption. Today Russia already controls 100 percent of the natural gas supply for nations like Estonia, Latvia and others.

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It is a problem that President Donald Trump pointed out while meeting with NATO last week, albeit in his typically undiplomatic and exaggerated fashion.

“Germany, as far as I’m concerned, is captive to Russia because it’s getting so much of its energy from Russia,” Trump said.

There’s just one problem. The Germans need natural gas one way or another. They’re undertaking a policy to phase out nuclear plants while also trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That leaves natural gas as a key available energy option — and Russia has plenty of it.

Here’s where the deal-maker would come in. The United States has lots of natural gas, too. But it’s largely not getting to Europe. Because there’s no pipeline connecting Texas shale plays across the Atlantic, domestic producers have to chill their products until it becomes a liquid — that’s liquefied natural gas — and then put it on tankers. The whole system is expensive and requires massive infrastructure investments. Today there are only two operating export terminals in the continental United States, and two import terminals in vulnerable Eastern Europe nations. At current prices, Russian gas costs less than U.S. exports. Instead, market forces direct most of our LNG to Asia.

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However, the president has plenty of tools at his disposal to help streamline LNG trade with Europe. Trump could resuscitate the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership to lower trade barriers. He could use the Export-Import Bank or Overseas Private Investment Corporation to help fund the construction of import terminals and pipelines. He could tell the State Department to restart the Global Shale Gas Initiative — a program started by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to promote fracking. He could instruct to U.S. Trade and Development Agency to focus its U.S. Gas Infrastructure Exports Initiative on exports to Eastern Europe.

Trump would also have to listen to expert advice. We remember when Murray Energy CEO, Bob Murray, met with Donald Trump on the campaign trail and told him to advocate for more LNG exports. Trump's response at the time: "What's LNG?"

Deals are already being made. At the World Gas Conference in Washington D.C., last month, Poland agreed to a 20-year import contract importing from Port Arthur LNG when it opens 2023. Simply the option of buying U.S. gas would help strengthen our allies in Central and Eastern Europe, which rely almost entirely on Russia for natural gas and have experienced politically convenient shutoffs whenever Moscow wants to gain leverage.

Unfortunately, Trump’s trade policy agenda makes these deals more difficult to negotiate. Tariffs on steel and aluminium raise the cost of doing business for natural gas producers. Five LNG export terminals are being built right now. Eight others have been approved. Trump’s tariffs add hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of construction. The prospect of a trade war looms over any conversation about LNG exports.

If you’re looking for a cheap and reliable source of energy, all of this chaos risks making U.S. natural gas look like a bad deal. Trump’s bluster at NATO doesn’t help, either. But until he drops the tariff talk and starts focusing on the art of the deal, too much of the conversation about exporting LNG to Europe will be little more than hot air.