The Trump administration has sold Venezuelan oil for $500 million, according to an unnamed administration official who spoke to Semafor.
The sale marks the first time the administration has acted to fulfill President Trump's vow to "take back oil" from Venezuela, following the violent assault that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his removal to the United States to face criminal charges. Trump has stated that he plans to claim as much as 50 million barrels of oil from the South American energy giant, while using the money to benefit both the American and the Venezuelan peoples.
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy confirmed that the first sale had occurred, telling The New York Times that "the sales will continue indefinitely." The oil is reportedly being moved from storage tanks in Venezuela to facilities around the Caribbean and will likely end up being processed in U.S. refineries.
Controlling the funds: In an executive order signed Friday, Trump said that funds from oil sales would be under the control of the U.S., with foreign creditors and courts blocked from accessing the money. The main account for the funds is reportedly located in Qatar.
As Semafor's Shelby Talcott and Eleanor Mueller note, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last week that his department would "oversee the accounts" and, at the direction of the president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, manage payments back to Venezuela.
Raising questions: Some lawmakers have expressed concerns about the management of the Venezuelan oil funds. Sen. Jack Reed, the senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, told Semafor that he is waiting for a briefing from the Trump administration about "how they keep it and who distributes it."
Reed added that he is "innately suspicious" of using a Qatari account.
Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren also questioned the use of a foreign account. "There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military," she told Semafor. "That is precisely a move that a corrupt politician would be attracted to."