Trump Threatens to Cut Exxon From Venezuela Oil Push After CEO’s Public Skepticism: ‘Playing Too Cute’

President Donald Trump threatened to cut Exxon Mobil from his Venezuelan oil market restructure after the company’s chief executive Darren Wood publicly cast doubt on his plan in front of reporters at the White House on Friday.

At the White House meeting the president urged that major execs from the US oil sector invest $100 billion in rebuilding the energy sector, promising government-backed security guarantees following the operation earlier this month that led to the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, the president was asked whether any oil companies had made “commitments” following his proposal.

Trump hesitated, saying he wouldn’t disclose details before taking public aim at one company in particular: “I didn’t like Exxon’s response. You know, we have so many that wanted – I’d probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute.”

The warning landed days after Woods publicly cast doubt on Venezuela’s viability for investors, telling a White House meeting the market is “uninvestable” in its current state.

Woods said Exxon would require “some pretty significant changes” before returning, pointing to the need for reforms to commercial frameworks, the legal system and hydrocarbon laws, alongside “durable” protections for foreign capital. Woods nonetheless struck a cautious note, saying Exxon was prepared to send a technical team to assess the state of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure if conditions improved.

When Trump was asked during Sunday’s Air Force One press gaggle what his security guarantees would look like, he replied: “We have guarantees that they’re going to be safe, that there’s going to be no problem and there won’t be. There’s not going to be a problem. They had problems in the past because they didn’t have Trump as a president. They had stupid people.”

Venezuela seized assets belonging to Exxon and ConocoPhillips in 2007, leaving both companies with billions of dollars in unresolved arbitration claims, leaving Chevron the only major US oil company still operating there.

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