Venezuela’s Oil Wealth Just Exploded The Bank Accounts of The Last Person America First Voters Would Expect
One man waited years for this exact moment.
Trump's Venezuela move just made that man’s dream come true.
And Venezuela's oil wealth just blew up the account balances of the last person America First voters would expect.
Wall Street Vulture Swoops In Two Months Before Trump deposed Venezuelan despot
Paul "The Vulture" Singer bought CITGO Petroleum for $5.9 billion in November 2025.
Two months later, Trump sent Delta operators into Venezuela and as a result Singer effectively landed the keys to the kingdom.
Singer's Elliott Investment Management grabbed Venezuela's crown jewel — three massive Gulf Coast refineries, 43 oil terminals, and over 4,000 gas stations — at a fire sale price because U.S. sanctions had destroyed CITGO's value.
Court advisers valued CITGO between $11 billion and $13 billion.
Venezuela said the company was worth $18 billion.
Singer paid $5.9 billion and bought it at a "major discount" because sanctions forced CITGO to use expensive Canadian and Colombian oil instead of cheap Venezuelan crude.
The refineries were built specifically to process heavy Venezuelan oil.
Now Trump's invasion just made Singer's bargain-basement purchase worth billions more.
Venezuela's new interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, called Singer's CITGO purchase "fraudulent" and "forced" in December.
Trump for now has allowed Rodríguez to replace Nicolás Maduro, but warned her she'll pay a "very big price" if she refuses to do "what we want."
That's great news for Singer, whose refineries will get access to cheap Venezuelan crude again now that Trump controls the country.
Congressman Thomas Massie spelled it out in plain English.
Singer "stands to make billions of dollars on his distressed CITGO investment, now that this administration has taken over Venezuela," Massie wrote on X.
Singer Spent Millions Lobbying For Venezuela Regime Change
The timing wasn't luck.
Singer spent years and millions of dollars building the political infrastructure for exactly this outcome.
He donated over $10 million to the Manhattan Institute since 2011, including $2 million in 2024.
The Manhattan Institute pumped out paper after paper calling for Maduro's removal and defending aggressive Venezuela policies.
Singer gave millions more to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
They published a report in November 2025 demanding military strikes in Venezuela.
He owns the Washington Free Beacon, which ran five articles in the month before Trump's invasion portraying Maduro as a narcoterrorist threat.
Singer has been Marco Rubio's primary financial backer for more than a decade.
Rubio, now Secretary of State, has been Washington's most consistent advocate for sanctions and military intervention in Latin America.
Singer was a Never-Trumper but ultimately donated $5 million to Trump's Super PAC in 2024 when he knew there’d be no stopping him.
He gave $37 million more to Congressional allies.
And donated $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund.
Singer met personally with Trump at least four times since 2016.
According to multiple reports, the court-appointed special master who forced the CITGO sale, Robert Pincus, sits on the board of directors of AIPAC – an organization Singer donated some $3 million since 2022.
All these carefully curated relationships can be dismissed individually as normal political activity.
Taken together, they form something else entirely.
Singer didn't micromanage Venezuela strategy.
He didn't need to.
He funded the think tanks that wrote the policy papers.
He backed politicians who pushed for intervention.
He owned the media outlets that framed Maduro as an existential threat.
By the time Delta went in, the entire ecosystem was already aligned with Singer's financial interests.
Singer Now Trying To Destroy Principled Congressman Who Called Him Out
Singer is currently funding a multi-million primary campaign against Congressman Thomas Massie (R-KY).
Massie, a stalwart conservative and constitutionalist, co-sponsored multiple war powers resolutions insisting Congress fulfill its obligation under the U.S. Constitution to vote before entering a potential war.
As a reward for his daring do, Singer created a Super PAC called MAGA KY – which is anything but – devoted entirely to defeating Massie.
Casino tycoon Miriam Adelson kicked in another $750,000 to the anti-Massie Super PAC.
Trump endorsed Singer-Adelson lackey Ed Gallrein to primary Massie in Kentucky's May 2026 election.
America First Senator Rand Paul(R-KY), a close Massie ally, is vowing to help fight back.
"Thomas Massie is going to win," Paul told Politico. "I'm going to help him. I'm going to be with him every step of the way."
Paul warned that every Republican lawmaker should have alarm bells going off over these folks’ rabid targeting of Congressman Massie.
"It's a warning sign," Paul explained. "'Oppose me or any of my policies, and I'll come after you.' And I don't think that's good for the Republican Party, nor do I think it's good for the country."
Paul pointed out that the people whispering in Trump's ear about Venezuela aren't America First conservatives.
"The people who've gotten close to him who want regime change in Venezuela and want to send more advanced weaponry to Ukraine, those are the interventionists from the interventionist wing of the party who have never been the ones really closely allied," Paul stated.
Singer's track record speaks for itself.
Tucker Carlson once described how Singer destroyed the small town of Sidney, Nebraska by gutting their largest employer and selling it for parts.
"Feeding off the carcass of a dying nation is what Singer and his firm Elliott Management have done in this country and to this country," Carlson said. "This kind of behavior bears no resemblance whatsoever to the capitalism we were promised in school. It creates nothing, it destroys entire cities."
Singer did the same thing in Detroit, Korea, Argentina, Peru, and the Republic of the Congo.
Bloomberg once called Singer "the world's most feared investor."
Now he's fattening himself again as American taxpayers foot the bill in Venezuela with little guarantee much if any of the spoils will trickle down to our benefit.
If you really think they’ll let gas go anywhere near a buck a gallon, you might want to see a very good doctor, and not one who works for private equity vultures like Singer.
War Spoils Always Go To Wall Street But Its American Soldiers, Workers Who Pay
Citizens in towns like Sidney, Nebraska all across America would love to actually see prosperity from Venezuela's oil wealth.
But like Syria, and Iraq, and Iraq before that, it’s Wall Street billionaires like Paul Singer who are getting it instead.
Singer isn't America First.
Singer perfected the ability to profit from sanctions, sovereign debt litigation, and regime change all at once.
CITGO was seized through U.S. courts after sanctions destroyed its value.
The auction never became competitive because financing dried up and legitimate buyers fled.
By the time CITGO went on sale, Singer was the only vulture left standing.
Now Singer's refineries get cheap Venezuelan crude again, his investment skyrockets in value, and American taxpayers footed the bill that made it possible.
Sources:
- Judd Legum, "Venezuela raid enriches MAGA billionaire," Popular Information, January 5, 2026.
- Christopher Brunet, "The Biggest Winner in Venezuela: Paul 'The Vulture' Singer," Substack, January 6, 2026.
- Stephen Prager, "Meet Paul Singer, the Billionaire Trump Megadonor Set to Make a Killing on Venezuela Oil," Common Dreams, January 6, 2026.
- Benoît Morenne, "How billionaire and Trump donor Paul Singer could benefit from Maduro's removal," NPR, January 7, 2026.
- Tucker Carlson Tonight, Fox News, March 2019.
- David Dayen, "Marco Rubio's Sales Pitch: War in Venezuela," The American Prospect, December 1, 2025.
