Massie slams Trump for selling ‘stolen’ Venezuelan oil through his ‘piggy bank’
Energy Secretary Chris Wright joins ‘Varney & Co.’ to discuss the administration’s effort to keep coal plants running, a move to make tech companies pay for electricity and the sale of Venezuelan oil.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on Tuesday criticized the administration of President Donald Trump for the way it is using the oil seized from Venezuela earlier this month, saying the president cannot sell the oil “on his own.”
Massie said the oil was “stolen” and that Trump can’t “legally create a second Treasury offshore to make his own pork.”
“Selling stolen oil and depositing billions of dollars in a Qatari bank for use without Congressional approval is illegal,” Massie wrote in X. “Only Congress can spend money.”
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Attorney Thomas Massie said the oil was “stolen” and “only Congress can spend the money.” (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“The president cannot legally establish a second Treasury overseas to create his own piggy bank,” he continued.
The Congressman added: “Wake up Congressman.”
This comes after the American campaign to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro, and the seizure of oil tankers in that country.
TRUMP’S VENEZUELA OIL DEAL SELLS $500 MILLION UNDER NEW AGREEMENT
Venezuela is one of the largest oil producers, and its oil industry has become a focus of the Trump administration.
Trump said that the sale of oil in the US will begin immediately, as approximately 30 to 50 million barrels will be sent to be sold to the US government.
Representative Thomas Massie said Congress needs to “wake up.” (Getty Images / Getty Images)
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Value, and that money will be controlled by me, as the President of the United States of America, to ensure that it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump previously wrote on Social Truth.
Administration officials announced last week that the government had completed the first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating an estimated $500 million, which was held in bank accounts controlled by the US government, including one located in Qatar.
The Department of Energy suggested that sales of Venezuelan oil to the US could continue “indefinitely.” The department also said it is working with “the world’s leading commodity brokers and key banks to facilitate and provide financial support for these sales of crude oil and crude products.”
Massie has repeatedly clashed with Trump in recent months over congressional opposition to capital spending, military action without congressional authorization and the administration’s handling of foreign policy.
Attorney Thomas Massie said President Donald Trump cannot sell Venezuelan oil through his “piggy bank.” (Photos by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Trump endorsed Massie’s primary opponent after challenging him, even though the Kentucky Republican easily won his state’s 2024 GOP primary, garnering 76% of the vote before running unopposed in the general election.
“President Trump captured a Venezuelan narcoterrorist leader who poisoned Americans with deadly drugs and sent thousands of illegal aliens into our country,” White House spokesman Taylor Rogers said in a statement sent to The Hill. “Thomas Massie whining about that is another reason why the people of Kentucky have completely lost confidence in him.”
