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Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Tuesday criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for how it is using the oil seized from Venezuela earlier this month, saying the president cannot sell the oil for “his own piggy bank.”
Massie said the oil was “stolen” and that Trump cannot “legally create a second Treasury overseas for his own piggy bank.”
“Selling stolen oil and putting billions of dollars in a bank in Qatar to be spent without Congressional approval is not Constitutional,” Massie wrote on X. “Only Congress can appropriate money.”
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“The president can’t legally create a second Treasury overseas for his own piggy bank,” he continued.
The congressman added: “Wake up Congress.”
This comes after the U.S. operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, and the Trump administration’s subsequent seizing of oil tankers from the country.
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Venezuela is one of the biggest producers of oil, and its oil industry has become a focus of the Trump administration.
Trump has said oil sales to the U.S. would start immediately, with an initial shipment of about 30 million to 50 million barrels to be sold to the U.S. government.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump previously wrote on Truth Social.
Administration officials announced last week that the government completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating about $500 million in revenue, which is being held in bank accounts controlled by the U.S. government, including one located in Qatar.
The Energy Department has suggested the U.S. sales of Venezuelan oil could continue “indefinitely.” The department also said it was working with “the world’s leading commodity marketers and key banks to execute and provide financial support for these crude oil and crude products sales.”
Massie has repeatedly clashed with Trump in recent months over the congressman’s opposition to large-scale federal spending, military action without congressional authorization and the administration’s handling of foreign policy.
Trump is backing Massie’s primary opponent after calling for a challenger to step up, although the Kentucky Republican easily won the GOP primary for his district in 2024, securing 76% of the vote before running unopposed in the general election.
“President Trump captured the narcoterrorist leader of Venezuela who poisoned the American people with deadly drugs and sent thousands of vicious illegal aliens into our country,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said in a statement to The Hill. “Thomas Massie crying about that is just one more reason why the great people of Kentucky have completely lost faith in him.”
