President Donald Trump on Thursday publicly disavowed any authority for billionaire energy entrepreneur and Republican donor Harry Sargeant III to act as a U.S. representative, while characterizing relations between the United States and Venezuela as highly positive.
In a post on Truth Social that appeared to respond to a Wall Street Journal story published on Wednesday, Trump wrote: "He has no authority, in any way, shape, or form, to act on behalf of the United States of America, nor does anyone else that is not approved by the State Department. Without this approval, no one is authorized to represent our Country."
The president also praised the quality of interactions between Washington and Venezuelan officials, singling out Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodriguez and U.S. representatives. "Relations between Venezuela and the United States have been, to put it mildly, extraordinary!" he wrote, adding that "we speak only for ourselves, and don’t want there to be any confusion or misrepresentation."
Those remarks follow reporting in January that Sargeant and his team had been providing advice to the Trump administration on how the United States could arrange for some American oil companies to resume operations in Venezuela, according to four sources familiar with the matter. Sargeant has said he is not a formal adviser.
Sargeant is described as having long-standing commercial ties to Venezuela’s oil sector, and as a golfing companion of President Trump as well as a Republican donor. His Venezuelan activities include businesses that buy and export asphalt - a product that can be produced from heavy crude oil of the type Venezuela exports - and investments in the production operations of several Venezuelan oil fields.
He has told Reuters that he has a long history of dealings with senior Venezuelan figures, including Delcy Rodriguez and U.S.-ousted President Nicolas Maduro. Sources cited in prior reporting said Sargeant has raised with U.S. officials the need for investment to upgrade Venezuela’s oil infrastructure.
According to Sargeant, in February 2025 he facilitated a meeting between special U.S. envoy Richard Grenell and Nicolas Maduro. Sargeant said that at that meeting the participants discussed the deportation of migrants back to Venezuela, the release of American prisoners, and the possible extension by the U.S. of a license allowing Chevron to operate in the country.
The president's post sought to clarify who is authorized to speak for the United States and to emphasize that any representative role requires State Department approval. It also reiterated the administration's public praise of ongoing engagement with Venezuelan officials.
This account of interactions involving a private energy entrepreneur, U.S. envoys and Venezuelan leaders highlights a set of informal and formal channels that have been reported to intersect around questions of oil operations and diplomatic issues. The statements made by the president, and the descriptions of Sargeant’s commercial and personal ties to Venezuelan oil interests, were provided without indicating any change to formal U.S. authorization processes.