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Small Investment, Big Reward: Oil Giants Dumped $19 Million Into Trump's Inaugural Fund
"Every month that Donald Trump has been in power, we've seen a raft of anti-climate measures come out which are music to the fossil fuel industry's ears," said one investigator.
Jul 09, 2025
Oil, gas, and coal companies and individuals linked to the climate-wrecking fossil fuel industry contributed more than $19 million to U.S. President Donald Trump's second inaugural fund, an analysis by a leading international environmental and human rights group revealed Wednesday.
Scouring itemized U.S Federal Election Commission data, Global Witness identified 47 individual donations to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee between November 2024 and January 2025 totaling $19,151,933. Using an artificial intelligence tool developed by Global Witness to identify corporate lobbyists, the group's researchers were able to automatically determine each donor's ties to the fossil fuel industry.
Global Witness said the $19.15 million figure "is likely an underestimate, as we did not count donations from diversified investors and businesses who couldn't be said to primarily represent the fossil fuel industry," and individuals with common names that couldn't be identified were not included in the final report.
According to the analysis:
The list of donors includes individuals who were given ambassadorships or key positions in the Trump Cabinet.
For example, billionaire Warren Stephens donated $4 million on December 2, 2024, the same day Trump nominated him to be U.S. ambassador to the U.K. Stephens has extensive links to the oil and gas industry but also invests in other sectors and wasn't included in our calculations of fossil fuel industry donors.
Trump also nominated Melinda Hildebrand—who donated $500,000 to the president's inaugural fund—to be U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica.
Hildebrand is the vice president of Hilcorp Ventures, which claims to be of the largest privately owned oil and gas producers in the U.S. Her husband, founder and chairman of Hilcorp, donated another $500,000.
Among fossil fuel corporations, Chevron was by far the largest contributor to Trump's inauguration fund, giving $2 million. Other companies including ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and Occidental Petroleum each donated $1 million.
Overall, Big Oil gave $445 million to Trump and other Republican candidates during the 2024 election cycle.
Trump, who ran on a "drill, baby, drill" energy policy, has signed a series of executive orders aimed at boosting fossil fuel production, including by declaring a fake "energy emergency" in a push to fast-track permit approvals. He also tapped former fossil fuel executives to head the Department of Energy and Interior Department, which have pursued a policy of opening up more public lands and waters for fossil fuel development.
At the same time, the Trump administration dropped out of the Paris climate agreement for the second time and moved to roll back the modest climate progress achieved under former President Joe Biden.
"It's no surprise the oil and gas industry handed millions to Donald Trump for his inauguration, and they seem to have reaped a huge return on their investment," Global Witness senior data investigator Nicu Calcea said in a statement Wednesday.
"Every month that Donald Trump has been in power, we've seen a raft of anti-climate measures come out which are music to the fossil fuel industry's ears," Calcea continued. "From plans to steamroll through dirty new coal plants, to the attempted quashing of 'polluter pays' laws that would hold oil giants accountable, it's clear where his political priorities lie."
"While Trump sides with his friends in oil and gas, we must keep up the fight for a fair, green future—that means pushing for wind and solar where we live, backing polluters pay bills, and resisting the development of oil, gas and coal projects across the country," he added.
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Lina Khan Accuses Trump FTC of Trying to Let Oil Exec 'Off the Hook' for Price Gouging Scandal
As FTC chair, Khan stopped a fossil fuel CEO from "cashing in and joining Exxon's board," said one lawmaker. "Now, with Trump bending to the whims of Big Oil, he's considering overturning that punishment."
May 06, 2025
"So much for America First," said one progressive lawmaker on Monday regarding the Federal Trade Commission's new push to reverse a ban on two fossil fuel CEOs from serving on the boards of ExxonMobil and Chevron—the oil giants that were acquiring their companies.
The FTC is accepting public comments until May 12 on a petition filed by former Pioneer National Resources CEO Scott Sheffield, which would set aside the Biden administration's consent order; finalized days before President Donald Trump took office, that barred Sheffield from serving on Exxon's board.
The order also applied to John Hess, CEO of Hess Corp., which was being acquired by Chevron.
Then-FTC Chair Lina Khan barred the CEOs from becoming board members over concerns that they would collude with representatives of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to ensure Americans continued paying high oil prices.
Sheffield and Hess both communicated with OPEC officials, including "the past and current secretaries general" of the organization "and an official from Saudi Arabia," according to an FTC probe under the Biden administration.
The two executives and their companies denied the allegations. Republican members of the FTC at the time voted against Khan's ban on the board positions, claiming it overstepped the agency's authority.
But on Monday, Khan urged those who oppose oil price fixing by energy giants to submit public comments on the Trump administration's "proposal to release Sheffield from accountability."
"The FTC is now trying to let this oil executive off the hook," said Khan, a law professor at Columbia University.
Exxon, the largest U.S. oil company, bought Pioneer in a $59.5 billion deal last year. Chevron's purchase of Hess for $53 billion is currently pending during arbitration proceedings.
The FTC's investigation last year found that Sheffield communicated with OPEC about cutting oil production and driving up consumer prices while publicly blaming government policies. One analysis found such price fixing schemes by corporations were to blame for 27% of the inflation spike that American families faced in 2021.
Sheffield pushed to "keep gas prices high so his shareholders could make even more money," said Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Monday. "Lina Khan's FTC prevented him from cashing in and joining Exxon's board. Now, with Trump bending to the whims of Big Oil, he's considering overturning that punishment."
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Calls for Big Oil to Cover LA Fire Damage as Chevron, Exxon Report Tens of Billions in 2024 Profits
"Megarich oil firms like Chevron and Exxon are knowingly driving and profiting from the climate crisis," said a Global Witness leader. "It's time they picked up the costs of repair."
Jan 31, 2025
As Chevron and ExxonMobil on Friday reported tens of billions in 2024 profits, campaigners intensified their demand for Big Oil to pay for the catastrophic levels of destruction caused by recent fires around Los Angeles, California, which were made more likely by the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency.
"As LA residents reel from the damage done to their city, it's important we point out who has been driving the fossil fuel pollution that is turbo-charging climate disasters," said Lela Stanley, head of Fossil Fuel Investigations at Global Witness, in a statement. "Big Oil bosses have worked with their friends in politics to bake dirty fossil fuels into our energy systems, block climate action, and spread lies about climate change to divide and distract us."
"Instead of accounting for our safety or the health of the planet, megarich oil firms like Chevron and Exxon are knowingly driving and profiting from the climate crisis," she continued. "It's time they picked up the costs of repair."
Texas-based ExxonMobil's net income for last quarter was $7.6 billion, bringing its full-year total to $33.7 billion, the company said Friday. Chevron—which last August relocated its headquarters from San Ramon, California, to Houston—had profits of $3.2 billion during the fourth quarter and $17.7 billion throughout 2024, the hottest year on record.
"Just a quarter of these U.S. oil giants' annual profits could pay for $1 million payouts to each LA household that has lost a home."
Responding to the two companies' more than $51 billion in combined earnings, Stanley said that "just a quarter of these U.S. oil giants' annual profits could pay for $1 million payouts to each LA household that has lost a home. What's small change to Big Oil could have a transformative effect on ordinary people's lives."
Chevron earlier this month announced it would donate $1 million total to the American National Red Cross, California Fire Foundation, and Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce Small Business Disaster Recovery Fund to aid recovery from what could be the costliest fire disaster in U.S. history.
Global Witness highlighted the World Weather Attribution's
finding that global heating—primarily caused by humanity's continued extraction and use of fossil fuels—made the weather conditions that caused the Los Angeles fires 35% more probable.
"Despite alarm from climate scientists over global heating and a surge in fossil fuel-driven disasters," the organization noted, "Exxon and Chevron have continued to expand their oil production, with the firms producing +4% and +3% more in 2024 than they did in 2023, respectively."
Chevron, the group added, "has actively sought to avoid paying out in the wake of climate disasters like the LA wildfires, spending $30 million with the Western States Petroleum Association—one of the U.S.'s largest fossil fuel trade groups—lobbying against a polluters pay-style bill."
During California's last legislative session, lawmakers introduced, but did not pass, a "climate superfund bill" that would make polluters pay into a fund for disaster prevention and cleanup. The fires have sparked a fresh push for such legislation.
Californians are fleeing wildfires while Exxon & Chevron rake in $36B+ in profits. Polluters profit, taxpayers foot the bill. California can’t wait, we must pass a #ClimateSuperfund bill so companies driving the climate crisis pay for the damage 💰 #MakePollutersPay
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— Stop the Money Pipeline ( @stopmoneypipeline.bsky.social) January 11, 2025 at 3:43 PM
On Monday, California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-11) introduced a bill that would allow homeowners, businesses, and insurance companies impacted by climate disasters to recover losses by taking legal action against oil and gas companies, which have not only fueled the global climate emergency but also spent decades misleading the public about the harms of their products.
There are also renewed calls for accountability via the courts. California is among the U.S. states and municipalities suing fossil fuel companies—including Chevron and Exxon—for their decades of deception. The Center for Climate Integrity said earlier this month that the latest fires "underscore the importance of California's effort to hold Big Oil accountable in court for its climate lies."
At least 29 deaths are
connected to this month's fires in the state. Attorney and Public Citizen Climate Program Accountability Project director Aaron Regunberg last year co-authored a legal memo about bringing criminal charges against fossil fuel companies. During a January 16 press conference, he said that "it's involuntary manslaughter to recklessly cause a death. Local prosecutors should consider whether Big Oil's conduct here amounts to violations of these kind of criminal laws."
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