President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela will hand over tens of millions of barrels of oil to the United States, just days after a US raid toppled the country’s anti-American president, leaving a more cooperative leader in charge.
Trump said 30–50 million barrels of “high‑quality, sanctioned” Venezuelan crude will be shipped to US ports, with the revenue — perhaps more than $2 billion at current market prices — placed under his personal control.
It was not immediately clear whether Venezuela’s new ruler — interim president Delcy Rodriguez — had agreed to hand over the oil, how the plan would work, or what its legal basis would be.
If confirmed, it would be the first major sign that Venezuela’s new leader and her military-backed government were willing to meet an extraordinary set of US demands.
Venezuelan authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last Saturday, US special forces snatched President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Caracas and whisked them to New York to face trial on drug charges.
Since then, Trump has said that the United States will “run” Venezuela and US companies will control its oil –the largest proven reserves in the world.
Interim president Rodriguez — a long-time member of Maduro’s inner circle as vice president and energy minister — has vowed cooperation with the United States amid fears that Trump could pursue wider regime change.
Trump has warned that Rodriguez will pay “a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she does not comply with Washington’s agenda — ceding control of the oil industry and weakening ties with Cuba, China, Iran, and Russia.
But she has also, at times, sounded defiant and appeared shoulder-to-shoulder with hardliners that control the military, police and intelligence services.
“The government of Venezuela is in charge in our country, and no-one else”, Rodriguez said Tuesday. “There is no foreign agent governing Venezuela.”
Trump, by contrast, has claimed Washington is now “in charge” of the South American nation and has vowed a new doctrine of US dominance in the western hemisphere.
“Trump is unapologetically establishing a US Protectorate over a sovereign country and claiming to have a right over its resources” said former Venezuelan diplomat Alfredo Toro Hardy, describing it as “something not seen in Latin America for over a century”.
Trump tasked Energy Secretary Chris Wright with “immediately” executing the planned transfer and sale of the 30-50 million barrels.
