Trump’s Venezuelan Heist: 65 Billion Barrels for America
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump has announced what he calls “the biggest oil deal in world history” with Venezuela, claiming the United States has secured control of more than 65 billion barrels of the South American country’s proven oil reserves “at no cost to the American taxpayer.”
The deal, negotiated by secretary of state Marco Rubio and war secretary Pete Hegseth with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez, would
see private operators develop 17 strategic oilfields over 25 years.
However, the full story of Washington’s relationship with Venezuela is far darker than the announcement suggests. It begins not with a contract, but with an act of international banditry.
On January 3, 2026, U.S. military and special forces carried out an illegal operation in Caracas and three other Venezuelan states that culminated in the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were flown to a federal prison in New York.
The raid left more than 100 people dead. Maduro was put through a show trial on drug trafficking charges—a justification that was largely fabricated.
A U.S. congressional hearing later revealed that “DEA has never listed Venezuela as a fentanyl source or transit country,” and that Coast Guard and military data “do not show any fentanyl coming from Venezuelan-linked maritime routes.”
Following Maduro’s abduction, Rubio delivered an ultimatum to then-Vice President Delcy Rodríguez: cooperate with the United States or witness a larger-scale attack. Rodríguez accepted, and Washington recognized her as interim president.
What emerged is what analysts have described as a U.S. “protectorate” over Venezuela. Rubio now controls Venezuela’s fiscal revenues, oil contracts, and even approves major government appointments.
The U.S. controls Rodríguez’s public appearances and statements, and forced her to delete a statement condemning the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran. Russia’s UN ambassador condemned these actions as “international banditry.”
Trump framed the arrangement as a gift from Venezuela to the American people. “The process of filling these reserves will begin soon, and this is a gift from Venezuela to the people of the United States,” he declared on Truth Social, adding that he would use Venezuelan oil to replenish America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has been drained due to the war against Iran.
But the deal’s true nature is exposed by Trump’s own words. One day after Maduro’s capture, he said, “We need access to oil and other things of their country that allow us to rebuild their country”—not justice, not democracy, but oil.
A congressional hearing revealed that “Trump told oil executives about the planned attack days before it happened” and “promised that oil companies would be fully reimbursed by American taxpayers for any investments they make in Venezuela.”
As analysts noted, “For months, Washington sold the operation against Maduro with the language of justice. Eight months later, the outcome has a much less solemn name: 65 billion barrels of oil.”
But Trump’s colonial ambitions extend far beyond Caracas.
Trump has made no secret of his desire to seize Iranian oil assets. In June, he declared his “preference” to capture Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s principal oil export terminal.
He has repeatedly threatened to destroy Iranian oil infrastructure, warning that if a peace deal is not reached, U.S. forces would target “all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).”
“We did it with Venezuela. Venezuela has worked out great for everybody,” Trump said, framing resource seizure as a proven strategy. “We’ve taken millions and millions of barrels of oil out of Venezuela. We brought them to Houston and various other places.”
Beyond oil, Trump has waged a bizarre war on geography itself. He signed an executive order on August 27 renaming Lake Ontario—which borders both the U.S. and Canada—to “Lake America,” then joked that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans could be next.
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean,” Trump said, suggesting he might rename both the Atlantic and Pacific. Earlier, he had renamed the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.”
Even more provocatively, Trump has referred to the Strait of Hormuz, a critical international waterway, as “U.S. territory” and floated calling it the “Strait of Trump.” The strait is one of the world’s most strategic maritime chokepoints, through which much of global oil shipments pass.
Trump’s expansionist fantasies extend far beyond names and oil. He has repeatedly called for U.S. acquisition of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, citing “national security” and the need to counter Russian and Chinese influence in the Arctic.
This is paired with threats to take control of Cuba, which the administration has subjected to an economic blockade and sanctions campaign. In May, Trump suggested the US would take over Cuba “almost immediately.”
The Panama Canal has also been targeted. Trump has repeatedly insisted the U.S. should reclaim ownership, falsely claiming China is operating the canal.