Trump awards $250 million oil contract to $6 million donor, stores proceeds in Qatar where he has $5.5 billion business deal

On Jan. 9, 2026, Trump held a closed-door White House meeting with oil executives to discuss seizing Venezuelan oil after U.S. forces captured President Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3. Vitol sent two senior officials—the only company to do so—including JAJohn Addison, a senior trader who donated $6 million to pro-Trump PACs ($5 million to MAGA Inc). During the meeting, Addison pledged to Trump that Vitol would secure the best possible price for Venezuelan oil. Also attending: Chevron board member JHJohn Hess, who with his wife donated $2 million to MAGA Inc in 2025. Hess had previously given only $100,000 to Trump in 2017 but increased donations dramatically after Chevron's position in Venezuela became valuable.

Five days later on Jan. 14, 2026, the Trump administration awarded the first Venezuelan oil contracts totaling $500 million. Vitol received $250 million and Trafigura received $250 million. There was no competitive bidding process. A Department of Energy official told reporters the two firms were selected because they were able to execute the initial transactions quickly. Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed the contracts went to Vitol and Trafigura. Both companies received preliminary 18-month Treasury licenses making them the exclusive intermediaries for all future Venezuelan oil sales, potentially worth billions more. The first shipment arrived at Bullen Bay terminal in Curaçao, where Vitol and Trafigura operate storage facilities.

The $500 million in proceeds was deposited in Qatar bank accounts controlled by the U.S. government, not in U.S. banks. A senior administration official described Qatar as a neutral location where money can flow freely with U.S. approval and without risk of seizure. This is the same Qatar that gave Trump a $400 million Boeing 747 luxury plane in May 2025 and signed a $5.5 billion golf resort deal with the Trump Organization in Apr. 2025. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who lobbied for Qatar from 2019 to 2020, signed a Justice Department memo declaring the plane gift legal. The plane will become Trump's personal property after his presidency when it's transferred to his presidential library foundation.

Sen. EWElizabeth Warren (D-MA), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, told Semafor there's 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 called it precisely a move that a corrupt politician would be attracted to. Sen. JRJack Reed (D-RI), top Democrat on Armed Services, said he's innately suspicious of using a Qatari account, noting that Qatari bank probably also loans a lot of money to Japan, which the U.S. is pressuring to spend more on defense. This suggests the bank may have financial leverage over U.S. allies, creating additional conflicts of interest.

Peter Harrell, Biden's former senior director of international economics, told Semafor it would make a ton of sense to park proceeds at private banks in the U.S., pointing to financial institutions in Japan and Korea that banked Iranian oil sale proceeds a decade ago. He warned that Venezuelan authorities might say they need wheat and want to buy from a company that's actually giving kickbacks to acting President Delcy Rodríguez. He said you're going to want a bank that's willing to spend time looking at these transactions to prevent corruption. U.S. banks operate under strict anti-money laundering regulations and congressional oversight. Qatar accounts face no such scrutiny.

The administration has provided no public oversight plan for the Qatar accounts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters his department will oversee the accounts and be in charge of disbursement at the president's and Secretary Rubio's direction. He said Treasury's role is making sure funds get to the proper place and we're the bankers here; we don't direct the funds. But Treasury declined to provide further details about the accounts, oversight mechanisms, or safeguards against corruption. Congressional Democrats are demanding briefings. If they retake the House, Sen. Reed said there will probably be subpoenas for the banks holding the accounts.

Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's former No. 2, controls how the money gets spent inside Venezuela. She told Trump in a phone call that some revenue would improve healthcare. Trump posted that the partnership will be spectacular FOR ALL. But experts warn Rodríguez may use funds to pay paramilitaries and drug cartels to maintain control. The money flows from Qatar banks to Venezuelan banks, which then allocate it according to requirements set by the U.S.—but there's no enforcement mechanism to ensure compliance. Alejandro Grisanti, founding director of Ecoanalitica, said Qatari banks auction the money to Venezuelan banks with stated priority for food, medicine, and small businesses. However, corruption in Venezuela's banking sector is well-documented.

The pay-to-play pattern extends beyond Vitol. Chevron, whose board member JHJohn Hess donated $2 million, is the only major U.S. oil company currently operating in Venezuela and stands to benefit most from expanded operations. Chevron donated $2 million to Trump's inaugural fund, while ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips each gave $1 million. Following the announcement of U.S. control over Venezuelan oil, Chevron's stock price climbed 5-7%. CEO Mike Wirth announced plans to increase Venezuela production by 50% within 24 months. However, at Trump's Jan. 10 meeting with executives, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told officials Venezuela is uninvestable, and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance expressed concern about unpaid debts from Venezuela's 2007 nationalizations.