"Companies and investors are eager to hire those with recent access to the White House and knowledge of the administration’s Venezuela policy or contacts.�"
"Three days after Michael Jensen left his job as the top Trump White House official for Latin America policy in late May, he boarded a private jet with an American crypto tycoon scouting oil deals in Venezuela, where a U.S. military raid last January had removed President Nicolás Maduro and installed a compliant government.
It was June 1, Jensen’s first day working as an operations executive at Primavera, a new energy company launched by Fred Ehrsam, the billionaire investor and co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, a Primavera spokesman confirmed.
As the long-moribund energy sector in Venezuela, now largely under U.S. control, prepares for a potential gold rush, experience in Washington has become a new currency for those seeking advantage, according to investors, former U.S. officials and others in Venezuela’s business community.
Companies and investors are eager to hire those with recent access to the White House, knowledge of the administration’s Venezuela policy or contacts, these people say. And lobbyists, consultants and former government officials from both major U.S. political parties are descending on Caracas on behalf of new clients or businesses."
Samantha Schmidt, Anthony Faiola and Karen DeYoung report for the Washington Post October 8, 2026.
