⚡️🇺🇸🇻🇪 — The Trump administration brought hundreds of millions of dollars of Venezuelan gold to the U.S. after the capture of Nicolás Maduro, but refining companies are refusing to touch it because they cannot verify the metal was not tied to criminal groups or corruption, according to a New York Times investigation.

➡️ In early March, Trump joined Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and a businessman in the West Wing for a private celebration where 10 Venezuelan gold bars were displayed. Trump looked on approvingly as aides took photos and joked about keeping the bars, the same day his administration issued a policy allowing Venezuelan gold imports.

➡️ The White House granted trading giant Trafigura the right to sell the gold, with the company assuring Washington it could "take control of the lawless industry" and steer the metal to U.S. hands. But some at Trafigura raised doubts about tracing the gold's origins, and interim President Delcy Rodríguez was skeptical — though she ultimately agreed, as her hold on power depended on Washington.

➡️ The deal required Trafigura to work only with Venezuela's state gold company, Minerven, to avoid criminal entanglement. However, an NYT investigation found Minerven remains deeply tied to organized crime: in El Callao, miners work on Minerven sites and a share of the gold goes to a local gang as "protection" payment, and payroll records show Minerven declared only a fraction of the gold sold to Trafigura.

➡️ Half a year after shipments began, Trafigura still cannot resell the gold, meaning the prize meant for American business sits in warehouses. "About 90% of the gold produced in Venezuela is illegally produced," a source said. "If an international company wants to go in and find that 10% of so-called legal gold, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

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