Donald Trump's first Venezuela oil sale deal goes to megadonor's company

[In It to Win It]

FT

Archived
https://archive.ph/myasf

The first US sale of Venezuelan crude was to a company whose senior oil trader donated to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and attended a White House meeting with the president last week.

John Addison, a senior trader at Vitol who donated about $6mn to political action committees backing Trump’s re-election campaign, was involved in his company’s efforts to secure a $250mn deal for Venezuelan crude.

The deal kick-started the US president’s controversial plan to sell up to 50mn barrels of Venezuelan oil.

Addison’s donations to Trump’s re-election campaign included $5mn in October 2024 to Maga Inc, according to a database of donors from OpenSecrets, and more than $1mn to two other Trump-aligned Pacs.

Addison joined Ben Marshall, head of Vitol’s US arm, to address Trump during a high-profile meeting with industry chiefs at the White House last Friday. Vitol was the only company with two top officials at the talks.

The first US sale of Venezuelan crude was to a company whose senior oil trader donated to Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and attended a White House meeting with the president last week.
www.ft.com/content/da74...

— Catherine Rampell (@crampell.bsky.social) 2026-01-16T14:10:19.642Z

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Who is surprised by this?

[GreenWave]

2. and I guess zero for the people he "liberated"

[gab13by13]

4. Who did he liberate?

The same corrupt administration is in power.

[AZJonnie]

3. Not super-concerned over who bought the oil, but very concerned over where the money for the sale WENT

Is the US compensating the country of VZ properly for our theft of their natural resources? Is whatever is left over after that actually going into the Treasury, or is it just lining IQ47's pockets?

[gab13by13]

5. I would guess the oil money goes with the tariff money

into Krasnov's sovereign wealth fund.

[Thomas Hurt]

6. Into the Qatar bank account to be laundered and distributed to Trump and his cronies.

[AZJonnie]

7. Indeed, I knew that, I just purposefully phrased it as though I didn't so someone else could take a swing afterwards

It was very much a rhetorical question, IOW, and you answered the bell

[2naSalit]

9. None of it...

Is bound for the US Treasury but I bet some of it will go to pooty.

[2naSalit]

8. Somehow...

I get the feeling that some of that $$ will end up in pooty's pockets.