The White House says it didn't know that an altered presidential seal featuring a two-headed eagle clutching golf clubs would be displayed at a speech by President Donald Trump this week.
Spokesman Judd Deere says officials "never saw the seal" before it was projected on a screen behind Trump as he was introduced at Turning Point USA's teen summit on Tuesday. The real seal has a bald eagle clutching arrows in one set of talons and an olive branch in the other.
A spokesman for Turning Point USA told The Washington Post, which first reported on the seal, it fired a video team member for mistakenly displaying the seal.
President Donald Trump arrives to speak, with an altered presidential seal behind him, at Turning Point USA's Teen Student Action Summit 2019, Tuesday, July 23, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoAlex Brandon)
Deere referred additional questions to Turning Point USA. The conservative group did not immediately return an emailed request for comment Thursday.
President Donald Trump arrives to speak, with an altered presidential seal behind him, at Turning Point USA's Teen Student Action Summit 2019, Tuesday, July 23, 2019, in Washington. (AP PhotoAlex Brandon)
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re playing too cute.”
During a meeting Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to assuage the concerns of the companies and said they would be dealing directly with the U.S., rather than the Venezuelan government.
Some, however, weren’t convinced.
“If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company.
An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment.
Also on Friday, Trump signed an executive order that seeks to ensure that Venezuelan oil revenue remains protected from being used in judicial proceedings.
The executive order, made public on Saturday, says that if the funds were to be seized for such use, it could “undermine critical U.S. efforts to ensure economic and political stability in Venezuela.” Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures, ongoing U.S. sanctions and decades of political uncertainty.
Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the Trump administration after Maduro's capture.
The White House is framing the effort to “run” Venezuela in economic terms, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, has said the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude, and plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.
Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Florida.
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
