In early March, President Trump celebrated a military intervention in Venezuela by displaying 10 Venezuelan gold bars in the White House Roosevelt Room, alongside Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and a businessman. Despite previously blacklisting Venezuelan gold for financing gangs and corrupt officials, Trump's stance shifted after toppling President Nicolás Maduro. On the same day the bars arrived, the administration issued a new policy permitting imports of Venezuelan gold from a state-owned mining company still designated a U.S. security threat.

The deal aimed to redirect gold revenues from criminals to the U.S. economy, but a New York Times investigation found the gold remains untouched in warehouses. Refiners hesitate due to international rules requiring guarantees that the gold hasn't funded gangs or corruption. Some shipments are linked to miners paying gang protection money, undermining the administration's anti-criminal narrative.

The gold rush exemplifies Trump's broader strategy to control Venezuela's oil and mineral wealth following Maduro's arrest. Planes carried gold out before mine visits, and American financiers invest in mines tied to gangsters. Simon Houghton-Dodd of Asahi Refining questioned whether any refiner wants to publicly process the controversial metal.

The investigation traces gold from southern Venezuela's El Callao mines to White House celebrations and European trading houses.