You have to wonder what Exxon was thinking

Treasury denies special exemption for Exxon to drill in Russia

Maybe ExxonMobile has gotten its way for far too long.

You have to wonder what executives there were thinking. They applied to get a special exemption from Russia waivers so they could drill some new wells and were denied on Friday.

Has no one there read a newspaper for the past 5 months?

You have an administration that's been constantly under fire for cozying up to Russia. You also have former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as the Secretary of State.

The optics of approving a special exemption would have been brutal.

Or maybe they knew it was going to be denied and wanted to give Trump an opportunity to 'look tough' on Russia?