Oil prices are rising, and you can thank President Biden.

By sanctioning Russian tankers and producers in recent days — something that should have been done over a year ago — the president has caused oil prices to soar, climbing from a low on Dec. 6 of $67 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude to nearly $80, a jump of nearly 19 percent. Strong economic data has contributed to the rise, but shutting down Russian exports is a game-changer.

Gasoline prices have also increased, up 4.4 percent in December, posing a challenge for President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to put a lid on inflation.

Pushing oil prices higher is not the only way Biden is gleefully spreading nails onto the path of his successor, but it is one of the nastiest. Biden and his team know that spiking gasoline prices could undermine Donald Trump’s honeymoon; they would like nothing more. And they know that if the Trump White House moves to undo those sanctions, in a move to keep oil prices subdued, the president will face renewed charges that he is in thrall to Vladimir Putin

This is not the White House’s only policy move that could dull Trump’s popularity and complicate his administration’s start-up. In its waning weeks, the Biden White House been busily punishing its foes and rewarding friends, arguably becoming more active than it has been for the past four years.

Just recently, Biden’s Federal Trade Commission sued John Deere (a company that

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