That depends how one defines energy independence.
We never stopped importing oil under Trump, we just exported more energy than imported. That is why this is a misleading headline.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2021/11/14/is-the-us-energy-independent/?sh=2a428ea51387
Acting like energy independence is the big marker in whether one president is better than another is very short sighted.
Don't pretend like it is an obvious decision to pick between a corrupt candidate with dementia and an authoritarian candidate with terrible morals.
Trump Just Achieved What Every President
Since Nixon Had Promised: Energy IndependenceEnergy Security: Last week, the U.S. exported more oil than we imported, for the first time
in 70-plus years. And it happened not because of decades of federal "energy policies," but
despite them.
Since Richard Nixon was in the White House, presidents have pushed national energy
plans that, they said, would reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil. These plans
all had one thing in common — they all assumed that increased domestic oil production
couldn't solve the problem.
Instead, from Nixon on down, Republican and Democratic presidents declared that the only
way to achieve energy independence was through some combination of strict conservation
measures and "alternative" forms of energy.
...
Then President Donald Trump took office and announced a radical departure from 50 years
of received energy "wisdom." In a speech to the Energy Department months after taking office,
he said that for decades leaders peddled the myth of energy scarcity. Most of it is self-imposed,
he said. What the country needs, he said, isn't "alternative" energy, or new austerity measures.
It's a government that "promotes energy development." Trump listed actions he was taking to
lift federal impediments to energy production.
Lo and behold, Trump was right.
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/energy-independence-trump/If you think oil and energy are not the number one factor in every single developed nation's economy, then you need to go study history.
Every President since Nixon has promised energy independence for the US, but only one achieved it: Trump. Why would they all promise something that wasn't something they wanted to hang their hats on? Reality trumps your opinion.
You can try to argue that importing less oil than we export is misleading, but you'd be wrong. if the net is that we produce more than we buy, then we could stop selling AND buying -- only consuming what we produce -- hence being 100% energy independent.
The fact that other countries still sell to us is in part due to maintaining a global market that's stable and not being used to cripple smaller nations that have no oil of their own. We have to buy from big producers, or they lose a vital, large customer which can be devastating to their economies.
Besides, there are a variety of types of oils extracted, products and by-products created through refinement and other things that we can have done cheaper by others. Our biggest issue is lack of refining facilities to keep up with demand. Part of that is because we've been buying from others for so long and stifling our own production, there's not been the demand to support more refineries. It's like doubling the amount of fish suddenly showing up at market but not having enough refrigeration to keep the meat from spoiling. More refrigeration can be built, but it takes time, capital and a long term projection saying the demand will continue to increase.
Biden killed energy production here. in fact, he just this month revoked additional drilling permits in Alaska.
2021: Biden administration suspends new oil, gas drilling permits on federal land
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/biden-administration-suspends-new-oil-gas-drilling-permits-on-federal-land-016112763752022: Biden Administration Halts New Drilling in Legal Fight Over Climate Costshttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/20/climate/carbon-biden-drilling-climate.html2023: Biden to Cancel Arctic Oil Drilling Rights Sold by Trumphttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-06/biden-to-cancel-alaskan-arctic-oil-drilling-rights-sold-by-trump#xj4y7vzkgThen there are the pipeline projects he cancelled. Biden has done nothing but make the US more and more dependent on foreign energy and before any "alternatives" have been developed and put in place. Only one new nuclear power plant has come online since Biden took office, and that was this year. The last one prior to that was 7 years ago.
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/07/a-new-nuclear-reactor-in-the-us-starts-up-for-first-time-in-seven-years.htmlRemember all this when California and New York start their rolling blackouts again this Winter, and customers can't afford their electric bills.