US President Donald Trump indicated on Thursday that the ‘takeover’ of Venezuela could continue for years — assuring somewhat vaguely that “only time would tell”. The United States had launched “large-scale strikes” against the South American country on Saturday and captured its president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and took them to New York for trial in a drugs case.
“I would say much longer (than three months, six months or even a year). We will rebuild it in a very profitable way. We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need,” he told The New York Times.
Washington has already announced a deal with Caracas to gain access to $2 billion in Venezuelan crude. Trump also unveiled a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of oil that had been stuck in the country under US blockade. He is now scheduled to meet with the heads of major oil companies at the White House on Friday to explore ways of raising Venezuelan oil production. Sources told Reuters that representatives from the top three US oil companies — Exxon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron — would be present.
Trump had subsequently announced that the US would now ‘run the country’ and tap its vast oil reserves for sale to other nations.
Senate gears up to vote on bid to stop Trump
Trump’s use of force in Venezuela has made some members of his own Republican Party wary, after he long criticised US military ventures abroad. The Senate is due to consider a resolution on Thursday to block Trump from taking further action without congressional authorisation.
Republicans, who control the Senate with 53 seats, have defeated several such measures since Trump began military action around Venezuela late last year, but the last vote in November was a close 49-51 after two Republicans backed it. Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican co-sponsoring the resolution, said he had spoken to at least two additional Republicans now “thinking about it”.
US seizes Venezuela-linked oil tankers
The US also seized two Venezuela-linked oil tankers in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday — one sailing under Russian flag — as Trump continues his aggressive push to dictate oil flows. The US administration intends to control the distribution of Venezuelan oil products globally following its ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a shocking night-time raid.
Oil prices rise
Oil prices rose on Thursday after two days of declines as investors assessed the developments in Venezuela. Reports about progress in proposed US sanctions legislation against countries doing business with Russia also heightened investor concerns. Both benchmarks had fallen more than 1% for a second day on Wednesday — with market participants expecting abundant global supply this year. Reuters cited analysts at Morgan Stanley as forecasting a surplus as high as 3 million barrels per day in the first half of 2026.