President Donald Trump has claimed that Venezuela’s regime is cooperating with the United States and that the USA is going to control Venezuela’s large oil reserves for years to come. In his latest interview with The New York Times, the President has also claimed that the USA will continue its control for years to come.
Donald Trump talks about taking oil from Venezuela
In a jarring development in the first days of 2026, the USA completed a significant military operation in Venezuela, resulting in the capture of Nicolás Maduro. Since then, the USA has been enforcing a strict “oil quarantine.”
As tensions remain high around the world, President Donald Trump has claimed that Venezuela’s regime is cooperating with them and they will control the country’s oil for the foreseeable future.
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump told The New York Times, “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil.” When asked how long the US government will oversee Venezuela, Trump responded with, “Only time will tell.”
He was further asked if it would be more than a year, the 79-year-old President responded, “I would say much longer.”
This comes shortly after Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, defended plans to open up her country’s oil market to Washington. She claimed that the recent US operation put a “stain” on the countries’ relations. However, it was not “unusual or irregular” to trade with the USA. Venezuela is reportedly “open to energy relations where all parties benefit.”
Trump made a similar claim, saying, “We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
Trump refused to answer why he endorsed Rodríguez, whom he had previously accused of “narco-terrorism,” instead of María Corina Machado, the opposition leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Meanwhile, the world remains divided on the USA’s latest developments with Venezuela.
Originally reported by Sourav Chakraborty on Mandatory.
