|
The share prices of U.S. oil companies surged following the Trump administration's attack on Venezuela and abduction of its president, Nicolás Maduro. In public statements, Trump has been clear about his desire to reassert U.S. corporate control over Venezuela's nationalized oil industry. Now with Trump's show of force over Venezuela's political sovereignty, many investors see the potential for a similar overpowering of the socialist country's economic independence. However, notes financial reporter David Uberti, it won't be so easy for Wall Street to make a profit. In addition to upgrading Venezuela's "decrepit" oil-producing infrastructure, "they have to push for more appetite for oil around the world."
|
|
The secretary of state helped steer President Trump to attacking Venezuela and seizing Nicolás Maduro, and now aims to force the country to give U.S. companies access to its oil.
|
|
Ventures launched by the Trump family since Donald Trump's reelection have generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the Trump family. With investments across sectors like real estate, hospitality, media, cryptocurrency and more, the Trumps are "increasingly integrating their business empire" into the wider U.S. economy, says David Uberti, who has been reporting on the family's self-enrichment for The Wall Street Journal. The coupling of Trump's economic and political influence is raising major questions about conflicts of interest. "You have all of these different business interests in different areas in which the government regulates," and this "proximity to power may help along some of these deals and the valuations at which they're made."
We look at the Trumps' cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial and the Trump Organization's planned $6 billion merger with a firm hoping to build a nuclear fusion plant to power AI data centers with Uberti, who says such "very speculative, highly risky corners of financial markets" are key to the family's investment strategy.
|
|
The funding pause could jeopardize child care and other programs that serve hundreds of thousands of households in California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York.
|
|
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has so far avoided condemning US military action in the Latin American state.
|
|
The lawsuit is the latest move by the Biden Administration aimed at boosting the power of consumers and workers.
|
|
