Trump’s inaugural fund received $19m from fossil fuel industry, analysis shows | Donald Trump inauguration

The fossil fuel industry has paid more than $ 19 million in the Donald Trump inaugural fund, representing almost 8% of all the donations it has raised, shows a new analysis, which raises concerns about the relationship of the White House with Big Oil.

The president collected a superb $ 239 million for its inauguration – more than the three previous inaugural committees have taken over and more than double the previous file – according to data published by the Federal Electoral Commission of the United States (FEC). The oil and gas sector has made a significant contribution to this overall number, found the global witness to the International Organization for Human Rights and Human Rights.

The group has drawn detailed inaugural fund contribution data published by the FEC in April and looked for each contributor using an internal artificial intelligence tool. It has located 47 contributions to the fund made by companies and individuals linked to the fossil fuels, to which Trump expressed his loyalty.

On the campaign path and in his inauguration speech, the president is committed to “drill, baby, forest”.

“We will once again be a rich nation, and is that liquid gold under our feet will help to do so,” said Trump in his inaugural speech, just a few hours before signing a series of decrees to “unleash American energy” and make environmental protections retreat. Its administration has since worked to stimulate the petroleum industry, in particular by targeting the responsibility efforts of fossil fuels led by the city and by the State, by opening strips of land to extraction and by reducing the expansion of renewable energies.

“It is not surprising that the oil and gas industry has given millions to Donald Trump for its inauguration, and they seem to have collected a huge return on investment,” said Usicu Calcea, a principal data investigator at Global Witness.

Among the donors linked to identified oil, the energy giant Chevron made the largest contribution to the Trump inaugural fund to $ 2 million, attaching it to the fourth global donor alongside other donors such as the cryptographic platform Coinbase and the financial services company Robinhood.

As much to comment, a spokesperson for Chevron said: “Chevron has a long tradition of celebrating democracy by supporting the inaugural committees of the two parties. We are proud to have started it again.”

Exxonmobil, Conocophillips and Western Petroleum each made donations of $ 1 million. None of the three companies responded to requests for comments from the Guardian.

In total, the global witness identified $ 19,151,933 in donation donation donations related to fossil fuel. This number is probably an underestimation, he says, because it does not include the contributions of donors not verified in energy, nor of diversified investors and companies that do not work mainly in oil and gas.

Trump profile of inaugural fund donors contrasts strongly with that of Joe Biden; The former president prohibited contributions to the oil and gas sector fund.

“So the first day of Trump Love-in with the oil and gas industry really tells us who he is,” said Alice Harrison, responsible for the fossil fuels campaign at Global Witness.

Created as a charitable organization, the presidential inaugural funds are used to cover the costs of parades, galas and receptions as a new president enters the White House. Unlike presidential electoral campaigns, there are no fixed limits on the quantity of an American society or citizen to give to an inaugural committee.

The interests of fossil fuels paid an additional $ 96 million in Trump’s re -election campaign and affiliated political action committees, according to a January report. Although it was less than the $ 1 billion he asked for the sector during an infamous meeting in his Last Mar-A-Lago club, this still constituted record levels.