Overview
- The president held up the cartoon-style lapel pin, called it a gift, and identified it as a “Happy Trump,” wearing it beneath his American flag pin during the East Room event.
- The meeting gathered nearly two dozen energy leaders, including executives from Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Shell, Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, and others, alongside Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
- Earlier that day, Trump posted on Truth Social projecting at least $100 billion in private investment for Venezuela’s energy rebuild and he has signaled security assurances for participating firms.
- Images and video of the pin drew sharply mixed reactions on X, and similar novelty pins matching the design were quickly found for sale on platforms such as Amazon and Etsy.
- Reporters noted Trump had worn a matching design in February during Tulsi Gabbard’s swearing-in as Director of National Intelligence.