Earlier this week, President Trump announced on Truth Social that Reliance Industries, a massive Indian conglomerate, is opening a $300 billion oil refinery in Brownsville, Texas—what he calls the “FIRST new U.S. Oil Refinery in 50 YEARS.” This announcement comes on the heels of a lucrative Venezuelan oil license granted to Reliance by the Trump administration in February. In 2024, Reliance paid the Trump Organization $10 million in fees for a development that appears not to exist yet.

Reliance is owned by Mukesh Ambani, a multibillionaire and the richest person in Asia. Ambani attended Trump’s 2025 inauguration, met him at a reception and later attended a state dinner in Qatar in May 2025. These recent wins for Reliance are a reversal of what had reportedly been a frosty relationship.

Trump reported on his 2025 financial disclosure that an arm of Reliance (Reliance 4IR Realty Development) that is involved in real estate development paid a $10 million “development fee” to Trump’s company for a “license agreement” on a project to be located in Mumbai. That is a significant chunk of the at least $87 million Trump reported making in 2024 from foreign properties.

Trump’s business partners are developing eight Trump projects in India, making India one of the countries most enmeshed with the Trump family’s finances. 

But a development with Reliance has yet to be announced. A page on the Trump Organization’s website listing international properties that are “coming soon” doesn’t mention Mumbai, nor has the company announced the development in a press release. It is unclear what Reliance has received in exchange for its $10 million payment two years ago.

As Trump incites one global conflict after another, in Venezuela and now Iran, the American people have no choice but to wonder how much his actions are motivated by their interests, versus those of his wealthy allies which are now benefitting in the aftermath. The case of Reliance is particularly galling as it’s received two lucrative wins in two months, after so recently paying millions to Trump’s business. 

Header photo courtesy of Reliance Industries Limited X post.

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