United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the interim authorities in Venezuela have agreed to transfer between 30 and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S. for sale at market price.
“I am pleased to announce that the interim authorities in Venezuela will hand over between 30 and 50 million barrels of high-quality, sanctioned oil to the U.S.,” Trump said in a statement via his social media platform Truth Social.
“This oil will be sold at market price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the U.S., to ensure that it is used for the benefit of the people of Venezuela and the U.S.,” he added.
Trump added that Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been asked to immediately carry out the plan, and the oil will be transported by storage vessels directly to U.S. unloading docks.
U.S. forces carried out air strikes early Saturday morning on targets in northern Venezuela, including air defense systems and communications infrastructure, while special operations forces conducted a raid in the capital, Caracas, to arrest the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.
During the first hearing in the trial on drug- and weapons-related charges, both Maduro and Flores pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Trump administration presented the operation as part of a renewed application of the Monroe Doctrine and a crackdown on alleged drug trafficking and corruption, while explicitly linking it to securing U.S. influence over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
