Politics & Government

Uncle Sam the shareholder

Trump has been on an acquisition spree, taking direct stakes in 14 companies spanning steel, rare earth minerals, semiconductors, and more

ByJoseph Zeballos-Roig

Share to XShare to FacebookShare to RedditShare to EmailShare to Link

Published 16 hours ago

Add Quartz on Google

Share to XShare to FacebookShare to RedditShare to EmailShare to Link

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A version of this article originally appeared in Quartz’s Washington newsletter. Sign up here to get the latest business and economic news and insights from Washington straight to your inbox.

It didn’t take long this year for the Trump administration to remind us about its appetite for government stakes — and Venezuela could be the next frontier in its growing portfolio.

The latest example came from Energy Secretary Chris Wright, one of the top officials taking point in cajoling Western oil executives to invest in Venezuela. During a Sunday interview with CBS’s Face the Nation, he was asked if the U.S. is considering taking stakes in the Venezuelan oil sector. He said it’s “certainly a very real possibility” in the aftermath of the U.S. ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

That doesn’t come as a big surprise. The Trump administration has been on an acquisition spree much of the past year,........

© Quartz