No. of Recommendations: 16
Before we dwell on recent happenings in Venezuela, I would point out that the media is no longer talking of Epstein, tariffs, inflation and so on as it is distracted by the newest shily object.
Thinking that the transition was as well thought out as the kidnapping is likely giving too much credit to those running the show in the US.
Expecting Trump to give Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado (she who took HIS Nobel Peace Prize) is unlikely. It has been clear from the beginning that what the US administration was really interested in were the Venezuelan oil fields. This is a dream-come-true for the US oil industry. We will likely find out that the very significant taxpayer cost of both the initial attacks on Venezuelan boats as well as its decapitation, not to mention the continuing expense of running a country where we are not welcome, in order for private commercial interests to be awarded a significant windfall.
There are (according to reports - true or not) up to $50B in infrastructure investments required to build up the oil fields - which will then produce billions of dollars in oil. I won't speculated on the opportunity of those close to this administration to make a huge amount of money in the converting of the oil fields to a US controlled asset. (What happens to the population of Venezuela is not particularly important - as long as they don't migrate to the US.
Trump actively solicited large donations from oil executives, promising to overturn environmental regulations and boost fossil fuel production, reports Politico and The Guardian.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/09/trump-ask...Former President Donald Trump asked oil industry executives ... (April 2024) to donate $1 billion to aid his campaign to retake the White House, three people familiar with the conversation told POLITICO — a request that campaign finance experts said appeared troubling but is probably legal.
The request, first reported Thursday by The Washington Post, occurred during a meeting of industry executives at the former president’s home in Palm Beach, Florida.
The oil industry has a long list of policy actions it would want Trump to take, including dismantling parts of President Joe Biden’s green agenda and rolling back pollution regulations that threaten to crimp their profits. As POLITICO reported Wednesday, oil executives are also preparing some highly specific requests for Trump, including executive orders they hope he would sign if reelected.
Oil and gas industry figures, including CEOs like Kelcy Warren (Energy Transfer), Harold Hamm (Continental Resources), and George Bishop (GeoSouthern Energy), donated significant amounts, with some billionaires giving millions to Trump's 2024 campaign and supporting PACs, totaling over $75 million from the industry to his campaign and related groups, receiving promises of policy favors like deregulation in return.
Kelcy Warren (Energy Transfer) was a major donor, co-hosting fundraisers, with his company's projects benefiting from Trump's policies.
Harold Hamm (Continental Resources) donated $1 million to the campaign and $614,000 to the Trump 47 Committee, a significant funder of MAGA PACs.
George Bishop (GeoSouthern Energy) donated $1.5 million to Trump's fundraising efforts.
Timothy Dunn (CrownQuest): A major oil and fracking figure, among Trump's mega-donors.
Timothy Mellon (Banking/Oil) was another significant mega-donor.
Vicki Hollub (Occidental Petroleum) co-hosted a major fundraiser with Warren and Hamm, with Occidental having previously donated to Trump's inaugural fund.
In total, the oil and gas industry funneled over $75 million directly to Trump's campaign and affiliated PACs, with some estimates reaching over $96 million, according to analyses by The New York Times, Yale Climate Connections and The Guardian. Donations went to his main campaign, the Trump 47 Committee, and the America First Action/Policies PAC, notes OpenSecrets.
From The Guardian:
Big oil spent a stunning $445m throughout the last election cycle to influence Donald Trump and Congress, a new analysis has found.
That figure includes funding from January 2023 and November 2024 for political donations, lobbying and advertising to support elected officials and specific policies. Because it does not include money funneled through dark-money groups – which do not have to reveal their donors – it is almost certainly a vast understatement, says the report from green advocacy group Climate Power, which is based on campaign finance disclosures and advertising industry data.
Fossil fuel interests poured $96m into Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and affiliated political action committees, the report found. Much of that was covered by megadonor oil billionaires, such as the fracking magnate Harold Hamm, the pipeline mogul Kelcy Warren and the drilling tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand.
Additional contributions came from lesser-known oil and gas interests, including fossil fuel-trading hedge funds, mining corporations and the producers of offshore-drilling ships and fuel tanks.
Fossil fuel companies and their trade groups spent another $243m lobbying Congress. Those donors stand to profit from priorities set by Senate-confirmed Trump cabinet appointees, such Chris Wright, the fracking CEO who was tapped to head the Department of Energy, and Lee Zeldin, the former New York representative who has accepted more than $400,000 in fossil fuel-tied campaign donations and who will lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
Big oil also spent some $80m on advertising to support their interests. That includes funding for ad campaigns run in swing states, such as one from the refining lobbying organization American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which railed against Joe Biden’s pro-electric vehicle policies, or another eight-figure ad blitz from top US oil lobbying group the American Petroleum Institute that promoted the idea that fossil fuels are “vital” to global energy security. Neither campaign directly endorsed Trump, but both targeted audiences in swing states.
Additionally, oil and gas companies and trade groups spent more than $25m on Republican down-ballot races, including $16m on House races, $8m on Senate fights and more than $500,000 on GOP gubernatorial candidates.
These investments are “likely to pay dividends”, the report says, with Republicans holding control of the White House, House and Senate – as well as some key states. Trump unleashed dozens of pro-fossil fuel executive actions on his first day in office and is expected to pursue a vast array of others with cooperation from Congress.
These contributions flowed to the campaign and related groups, with some industry figures acting as major backers, as detailed by The New York Times and The Guardian.
Jeff
