Trump Accuses Venezuela of Stealing U.S. Oil Assets
Donald Trump accused Venezuela of seizing assets belonging to American petroleum companies, referencing government takeovers spanning from the 1970s through administrations led by Hugo Chavez and current President Nicolas Maduro.
"They took our oil rights -- we had a lot of oil there. As you know they threw our companies out, and we want it back," Trump told reporters in the White House.
Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller intensified rhetoric Wednesday via social media, calling Venezuela's oil industry nationalization "the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property."
"These pillaged assets were then used to fund terrorism and flood our streets with killers, mercenaries and drugs," Miller claimed.
Tuesday brought additional pressure when Trump ordered "a total, complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela," amplifying a months-long campaign targeting Maduro.
The United States "will not allow a Hostile Regime to take our Oil, Land, or any other Assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY," Trump wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
That same post announced "the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION (FTO)." Yet by Wednesday evening, the Trump administration's FTO list showed no such update.
The Pentagon last week commandeered an oil tanker near Venezuelan waters, directing it toward a U.S. port. The White House subsequently confirmed intentions to keep the cargo—a seizure Venezuela denounced as "piracy."
Venezuela possesses among the planet's largest verified petroleum reserves despite being a major producer. American crude imports from the country have plummeted over ten years amid sanctions and diplomatic strains.
Chevron, a U.S. oil giant operating under government waiver, reports uninterrupted Venezuelan operations.
For nearly four months, United States military assets have maintained substantial Caribbean deployment, largely positioned off Venezuelan shores, officially aimed at narcotics interdiction—a justification Venezuela dismisses as cover for regime overthrow attempts.
Since early September, U.S. forces destroyed at least 25 suspected drug-smuggling vessels across the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in at least 95 deaths.
Though the White House frames military operations as anti-trafficking measures, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration statistics indicate Venezuela ranks low among drug sources entering America.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday revealed 63 percent of U.S. adults oppose the Trump administration's military attacks on Venezuela, compared with 25 percent who support them.
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