CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Calls Out Trump Saying We Should Seize Oil on Camera for Years

CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins called out President Donald Trump’s years of public statements calling for the seizure of foreign oil, and Trump Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard for once having opposed such seizures.

Trump has ramped up his quest for oil in the days following his strike and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, announcing Tuesday that he will “control” money from a new sale of crude oil.

On Tuesday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, Collins opened her show with a montage of Trump’s past statements on “keeping the oil” from foriegn wars, and presented Gabbard’s shifting statements on the subject:

Now the President, though, has made clear, as we have been dealing with the fallout and — or the reaction ever since that raid that happened on Friday, that he’s made clear he wants American companies involved in the future of Venezuela as soon as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I’m also meeting with oil companies. Let’s go. You know what that’s about. We got a lot of oil to drill, which is going to bring down oil prices even further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: We’re told that a meeting with U.S. oil executives is set to happen on the books later this week at the White House.

And ahead of that meeting, Joe Scarborough says that the President told him on a call, that the difference between Iraq and this is that former President George W. Bush didn’t keep the oil. And the President said, We’re going to keep the oil.

That’s something that echoes what Donald Trump has said for years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When we got out, we should have taken the oil.

They’re talking about a sovereign country.

Iraq. Crooked as hell.

I didn’t want to go into Iraq. We got there. I said, keep the oil. They didn’t keep the oil. These people don’t know what they’re doing. You know, in the old days, you’re in a war, to the victor belong the spoils, right? I said, keep the oil. Keep the oil. Keep the oil. Don’t let somebody else get it.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: If they had listened to me then, we would have had the economic benefits of the oil.

I’ve always said, Shouldn’t be there. But if we’re going to get out, take the oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The idea of seizing oil reserves in a foreign nation used to be something that the President’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, actually strongly opposed. She’s said, the United States, previously, needs to stay out of Venezuela. She said, It’s about the oil again. The U.S. must stay out of Venezuela and let the people determine their own future.

And Tulsi Gabbard had also previously said, Military intervention in Venezuela will wreak death and destruction to Venezuelan people, and increase tensions that threaten our national security.

Those past comments are why it stood out tonight when we heard from the Director of National Intelligence, saying that, President Trump promised the American people he would secure our borders, confront narcoterrorism, dangerous drug cartels, and drug traffickers. Kudos to our servicemen and women and intelligence operators for their flawless execution of President Trump’s order to deliver on his promise through Operation Absolute Resolve. Which is what the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro was called.

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.