More recently, he hinted that he'd stop making subsidy payments to keep insurers in Affordable Care Act markets if Democrats didn't fund his border wall as part of the 2017 budget then backed off.
However, lower energy prices make subsidies cheaper.
First, it should be used to make subsidies and their costs more transparent.
It is precisely their small current base that makes subsidies seem large when expressed as dollars per megawatt-hour.
Instead, she should begin a gradual adjustment, make subsidies more selective, make peace with the private sector, and come clean about inflation.
The kingdom's development plans have given domestic food production special attention, and the government has made subsidies and generous incentives available to the agriculture sector.
To make subsidies more transparent, the government has also set up several "policy banks" to channel all state-directed loans in future.
A period of low gas prices could make subsidies for new reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and new wind farms and solar arrays look even more toxic.
Oddly, one thing that might make subsidies reform easier is more sanctions, the tool most widely discussed by Western leaders as a final option to put pressure on Iran if current nuclear negotiations fail.
