1. "Trump though Venezuela's oil was a quick smash-and-grab."
Hard to know what he was thinking when he ordeded the military to snatch a sitting President. The day after alll, however, all he could gush about was oil.
ah, but reality says something different:
January 3, 2026
• Trump said the U.S. will be strongly involved in
rebuilding Venezuela’s deteriorating oil infrastructure and that American companies would take a lead in that effort following the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
January 7, 2026
• U.S. officials under Trump’s administration said the U.S. aims to
control Venezuela’s oil sales and rebuild its oil sector, tying it to broader economic stabilization.
January 8, 2026
• In an interview with
The New York Times, Trump said U.S. oversight of Venezuela will last for years and emphasized plans to
rebuilt the country in a profitable way by extracting and marketing Venezuelan oil.
January 9, 2026
• At a White House meeting with oil executives, Trump explicitly stated that
American companies will have the opportunity to rebuild Venezuela’s “rotting” energy infrastructure and eventually raise oil production to historic levels — without specifying subsidies (but offering assurances).
• At the same meeting, Trump assured executives of “total safety” if they invest in the Venezuelan oil industry and pushed for about
$100 billion in investment.
January 11–12, 2026
• After the January 9 meeting, Trump publicly said he was
“inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of the Venezuela plan because he disliked the company’s response, reiterating his push to involve U.S. energy firms in rebuilding efforts.
2. "Turns out it's rusted refinery, guarded by militias, sitting on a political fault line, with a price tag the sized of a small war. Oil companies took one look and said, "Call us in 30 years." Assuming "refinery" refers to Venezuela's oil infrastructure overall, this is certainly a true statement. Once more, the CEO of Exxon-Mobil reminded Trump that Exxon had it's assets expropriated - twice. Trump even joked it was a nice tax write off. [Trump later noted Exxon would not be "invited" to his oil party]. And militias guarding the oil fields? If they are not today, they will be....especially if American military and/or private security dudes are brought in for guard duty.
30 years? my how time flies!
The seizure comes as the Trump administration works to determine how to make the most of Venezuela’s oil. President Trump’s overall goal is to get oil executives to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in restoring Venezuela’s aging oil infrastructure.
Trump, as he opened the meeting with oil industry executives, sought to assure them that they need not be skeptical of quickly investing in and, in some cases, returning to the South American country with a history of state asset seizures as well as ongoing U.S. sanctions and the current political uncertainty.
They are lining up wanting a piece.
The White House said it invited oil executives from 17 companies, including Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, as well as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.