Trump Says He’s Selling Venezuela’s Oil and That the ‘Money Will Be Controlled by Me’

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he would be selling Venezuela’s oil after invading the country, with the money to be personally controlled by him.

“I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America,” announced Trump in a Truth Social post. “This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”

He concluded, “I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately. It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Following the U.S. invasion of Venezuela on Saturday, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Trump quickly made it clear that the operation was heavily motivated by oil.

“Right now, what we want to do is fix up the oil, fix up the country, bring the country back, and then have elections,” said Trump the day after the invasion. “We need total access. We need access to oil and to other things in their country that will allow us to rebuild their country.”

The president went on to reveal that he tipped off oil companies about his plans prior to the invasion.

“They want to go in and they’re going to do a great job for the people of Venezuela and they’re going to represent us,” said Trump about the oil companies. “We are going to have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure… The oil companies are ready to go, they are going to build back the infrastructure.”

Oil stocks surged after Trump announced that his administration would “run” Venezuela for the foreseeable future.