Trump administration freezes assets of Republican donor over Venezuela oil ties

The Trump administration just made it very clear to one of the Republican Party’s most connected oil executives: get out of Venezuela, or else. The Treasury Department froze the assets of Bluewave Properties Ltd., an offshore company controlled by Florida oil magnate Harry Sargeant III, on August 8. The entity holds interests in Venezuelan oil-producing ventures. In a move that reads less like punishment and more like an aggressive nudge, Treasury simultaneously issued a license allowing Sargeant to unwind his positions in the firm. A decades-long relationship under the microscope Sargeant has been operating in Venezuela’s oil sector since the 1980s, managing crude and asphalt exports through various ventures over the course of four decades. His firm North American Blue Energy loaded nearly 1 million barrels of Venezuelan crude destined for China back in March 2026. More notably, Sargeant has served as something of an unofficial diplomatic channel. In February 2025, he facilitated a meeting between Trump envoy Richard Grenell and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. As of August 9, Bluewave was not yet listed on the public OFAC sanctions list, though it was effectively operating un...