Safeguarding Venezuelan Oil Revenue for the Good of the American and Venezuelan People
This Presidential Action, issued under the authority granted by IEEPA and the NEA, declares a national emergency to safeguard "Foreign Government Deposit Funds" held by the U.S. Treasury on behalf of the Government of Venezuela from attachment or other judicial processes.
The President finds that allowing such process would materially harm U.S. national security and foreign policy by interfering with stability efforts in Venezuela and stemming threats like illegal immigration and narcotics flow.
The order directs the Secretary of the Treasury to hold these funds solely in a custodial capacity, under the direction of the Secretary of State, for public or diplomatic purposes, expressly overriding any previous executive orders affecting these specific funds.
Arguments For
Protecting National Security and Foreign Policy: The action is justified by citing the need to prevent judicial attachment of funds from interfering with critical efforts to achieve economic and political stability in Venezuela.
Preventing Illicit Flows: The order aims to stop threats like the influx of illegal immigrants and illicit narcotics, which are linked to regional instability.
Sovereign Integrity and Comity: Declaring a national emergency allows the executive branch to assert sovereign immunity, ensuring that Venezuelan government funds held in U.S. accounts are shielded from private creditor claims, which supports international diplomatic norms.
Controlling Disbursal: By vesting control with the Treasury, under the direction of the Secretary of State, the order ensures these revenues are held for sovereign, public, or diplomatic purposes rather than commercial use.
Arguments Against
Overreach of Executive Power: Critics may argue that declaring a national emergency based on the potential for private lawsuits in U.S. courts regarding foreign assets constitutes an unwarranted expansion of Presidential authority under IEEPA.
Impact on Creditors and Commercial Disputes: The order effectively halts legitimate judicial processes that private parties (judgment creditors or commercial actors) might pursue to recover debts owed by Venezuelan entities, potentially undermining the rule of law for private claims.
Interference with Judicial Process: Blocking attachments and judicial processes directly interferes with the jurisdiction and authority of U.S. courts to adjudicate valid debts and judgments.
Political Motivation: The determination that specific foreign funds must be preserved solely for specified diplomatic and foreign policy objectives, overriding existing legal claims, may be viewed as an overreach driven by specific political goals in Venezuela.
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, it is hereby ordered:
The President invokes constitutional authority, along with specific statutes—the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the National Emergencies Act (NEA)—to issue this order.
These grants of authority usually allow the President to regulate international commerce and transactions during a declared emergency.
Section 1. Findings. As Chief Executive and Commander in Chief, I find that the threat of attachment or the imposition of other judicial process against the Foreign Government Deposit Funds, as defined in section 2 of this order, will materially harm the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
The President formally declares the basis for the action.
The finding asserts that allowing any court order (attachment or judicial process) against specific Venezuelan funds defined later in the order threatens the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.
Specifically, the attachment or the imposition of other judicial process against the Foreign Government Deposit Funds will substantially interfere with our critical efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela. The failure of these critical efforts would jeopardize major foreign policy objectives of the United States, including: ending the dangerous influx of illegal immigrants and the flood of illicit narcotics, which has resulted in the death of countless thousands of American citizens; protecting American interests against malign actors such as Iran and Hezbollah; and bringing peace, prosperity, and stability to the Venezuelan people and to the Western Hemisphere more generally.
This paragraph details the specific foreign policy justifications.
Interfering with the funds would jeopardize U.S. goals like stabilizing Venezuela, stopping illegal immigration and narcotics trafficking, and countering influence from adversaries like Iran and Hezbollah in the region.
Accordingly, the preservation of the Foreign Government Deposit Funds is of the utmost importance to the United States. I therefore find that the possibility of attachment or the imposition of judicial process against the Foreign Government Deposit Funds constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.
Based on the preceding findings, the President formally declares a national emergency.
This declaration justifies the use of the powers granted under the National Emergencies Act to address what is characterized as an extraordinary threat originating outside the U.S.
Sec. 2. Definition. For the purposes of this order, “Foreign Government Deposit Funds” means funds paid to or held by the United States Government in designated United States Department of the Treasury accounts or funds on behalf of the Government of Venezuela or its agencies or instrumentalities, including the Central Bank of Venezuela and Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., that are derived from either the sale of natural resources from, or the sale of diluents to, the Government of Venezuela or its agencies or instrumentalities.
Section 2 defines the specific financial assets targeted by the order, termed "Foreign Government Deposit Funds." These are monies held by the U.S. Treasury on behalf of the Venezuelan government, its central bank, or state oil company, derived from the trade of natural resources (like oil) or diluents.
Sec. 3. Preservation of Foreign Government Deposit Funds. (a) Unless licensed or otherwise authorized pursuant to this order, any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process is prohibited, and shall be deemed null and void, with respect to the Foreign Government Deposit Funds.
Subsection (a) imposes the core prohibition.
It makes any judicial action—including liens, garnishments, or judgments—against the defined Venezuelan funds void unless the action is specifically permitted by a license issued under this order.
(b) No Foreign Government Deposit Funds may be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in, except to the extent provided by regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the effective date of this order.
Subsection (b) prohibits any dealing with the funds—transferring, paying out, or withdrawing—unless authorized by new regulations or licenses established under this order.
This invalidates any prior contracts or permits that might otherwise authorize transactions.
(c) This order and actions taken pursuant to this order shall apply notwithstanding any previously issued Executive Order, and any action taken pursuant to such an order, to the extent such order or action blocks, regulates, or otherwise affects the Foreign Government Deposit Funds. This order and actions taken pursuant to this order shall supersede any previously issued Executive Order, and any action taken pursuant to such an order, to the extent such order or action blocks, regulates, or otherwise affects the Foreign Government Deposit Funds.
Subsection (c) establishes the order's priority.
It explicitly states that this current order supersedes any prior Executive Order related to blocking or regulating the Foreign Government Deposit Funds.
Sec. 4. Additional Presidential Findings and Determinations. I hereby determine and find that:
This section lays out further specific legal determinations necessary to support the actions taken under IEEPA regarding the status and nature of the funds.
(a) Ownership. The Foreign Government Deposit Funds constitute property of the Government of Venezuela and do not constitute the property of any private party, including judgment creditors of Venezuela or its agencies or instrumentalities, or commercial actors that transacted or are transacting business with Venezuela or its agencies or instrumentalities.
This finding legally establishes that the funds belong strictly to the Government of Venezuela.
It explicitly excludes any claim by private parties, judgment creditors, or commercial entities who may have done business with Venezuela.
(b) Custodial Nature of United States Possession. The United States Government will hold the Foreign Government Deposit Funds solely in a custodial and governmental capacity, and not as a market participant.
The U.S. government asserts that its possession of the funds is purely custodial (holding them for safekeeping) and governmental, not acting in a commercial capacity, which often affects sovereign immunity protections.
(c) Absence of Commercial Use in the United States. The Foreign Government Deposit Funds:
(i) have not been, and shall not be, used for any commercial activity in the United States; and
(ii) shall be held pending sovereign disposition for public, governmental, or diplomatic purposes determined by the Secretary of State, on behalf of the Government of Venezuela.
Paragraph (c) restricts the use of these funds, stating they will not be used for commercial purposes within the U.S. Instead, they must be held until the Secretary of State decides on their disposition for public, governmental, or diplomatic needs benefiting Venezuela.
(d) Governmental Purpose. The retention and administration of the Foreign Government Deposit Funds serve public sovereign purposes, including compliance with international obligations, the performance of government functions, and the maintenance of diplomatic and foreign policy objectives.
This finding asserts that managing and retaining these funds serves legitimate sovereign governmental functions, such as meeting international duties and supporting the nation's diplomatic aims.
(e) No Waiver of Immunity. Neither the placement of the Foreign Government Deposit Funds in a United States Department of the Treasury deposit account nor any related arrangement or activity constitutes an express or implied waiver of sovereign immunity from any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process, or consent to the jurisdiction of any court for purposes of enforcing private claims against such funds.
The order clarifies that simply placing the funds into a U.S. Treasury account does not legally waive Venezuela's sovereign immunity against lawsuits, judgments, or any other form of seizure by private litigants.
(f) International Comity and Foreign Relations. Any attachment, judgment, decree, lien, execution, garnishment, or other judicial process against the Foreign Government Deposit Funds would interfere with the conduct of the foreign relations of the United States and undermine principles of international comity.
This determination argues that allowing judicial seizure of these funds would damage how the U.S. conducts its foreign relations and violate the accepted international principle of comity (mutual respect between sovereign states).
Sec. 5. Treatment of Foreign Government Deposit Funds. (a) In holding the Foreign Government Deposit Funds, the Secretary of the Treasury shall:
(i) designate such funds in a manner that clearly reflects their status as sovereign property of the Government of Venezuela held in custody by the United States, and not as the property of the United States;
(ii) comply with instructions regarding disbursements or transfers of the Foreign Government Deposit Funds as may be determined by the Secretary of State, and not permit such funds to be used for any other purpose; and
(iii) consult, as appropriate, with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Energy.
Section 5 details operational directives for the Treasury Secretary.
The funds must be clearly labeled as sovereign property held in custody.
Disbursements must follow instructions from the Secretary of State exclusively.
Treasury must also consult with the Justice Department (Attorney General), the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of Energy.
(b) The Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney General are authorized and directed to assert, in any judicial or administrative proceeding, the sovereign immunity of the Foreign Government Deposit Funds consistent with this order and applicable law.
The Treasury Secretary and Attorney General receive the authority and mandate to formally invoke sovereign immunity for these funds whenever the matter arises in a U.S. court or administrative hearing.
Sec. 6. Administration. (a) The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Energy, is authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may, consistent with applicable law, redelegate any of these functions within the Department of the Treasury. The head of each executive department and agency (agency) of the United States Government shall take all appropriate measures within the agency’s authority to implement this order.
This section delegates implementation authority.
The Treasury Secretary, in consultation with relevant departments, can create necessary rules and use the powers granted by IEEPA to enforce the order, including delegating these duties within the Treasury Department.
All other government agencies must also take implementing steps within their authority.
(b) The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to submit recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).
The Treasury Secretary, coordinating with the Secretary of State, must report to Congress about the national emergency periodically, following the reporting requirements specified in both the NEA and IEEPA.
Sec. 7. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
Section 7 outlines general legal caveats.
Subsection (a) ensures that this order does not diminish the existing statutory authority of other executive departments or agencies, nor does it interfere with the budgetary or legislative proposal functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
The implementation of this order must align with existing applicable laws and depend on Congress providing the necessary budgetary funding.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
This provision clarifies that the order is not intended to grant any new enforceable rights or benefits to any party (including private litigants or foreign entities) that could be used to sue the United States government or its personnel.
(d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of the Treasury.
The cost associated with officially publishing this Presidential Order will be covered by the Department of the Treasury.
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 9, 2026.
This marks the official signing of the order by President Donald J. Trump at the White House on January 9, 2026.
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This concluding note indicates the online publication source and the title of the action as posted on The White House website.