Trump meets with major oil executives about Venezuela at White House

The president said the assembled companies are “treasured partners in bringing the nation of Venezuela back to life” and said that if they don’t want to go invest in Venezuela, there are “25 people that aren’t here today that are willing to take your place.” 

Mr. Trump said the deal will generate “tremendous wealth” for the companies and “great wealth” for the American people. It would also help restore Venezuela’s economy, he said. 

The president expressed optimism about the future of the U.S. and Venezuela following Maduro’s removal from power and predicted the two nations will now work closely together.

“The departure of Maduro makes possible an incredible future for both nations, Venezuela and the United States,” he said. “We will more closely integrate the economies of two major energy powers in the Western Hemisphere.”

Mr. Trump predicted that the U.S. will see lower energy prices as a result of its involvement in Venezuela and efforts to revive its energy infrastructure.

Experts told CBS News that U.S. companies are unlikely to rush to re-enter Venezuela’s oil industry and will likely want more clarity on the landscape in the South American country before investing billions of dollars to upgrade its infrastructure.

Mr. Trump said the U.S. helped build Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, but then the country “stole” those assets from the U.S. 

“They stole our assets like we were babies,” he told the oil executives. “And the United States did absolutely nothing about it, so now we’re doing everything about it,” he said. 

“So they stole from us and it was taken by socialists and communists at the time, and Venezuela was going bad, really bad,” he continued. “And as much oil as they have, they’re producing almost nothing.” 

“We’re taking back what was taken from us,” he said. “They took our oil industry — we built that entire oil industry.” 

Mr. Trump told the executives that their companies now have “total safety, total security” in Venezuela. 

“One of the reasons you couldn’t go in, you had no guarantees,” Mr. Trump said. “You had no security. But now you have total security. It’s a whole different Venezuela.” 

Returning to the topic at hand, the president said, “We’re going to discuss how these great American companies can help rapidly rebuild Venezuela’s dilapidated oil industry and bring millions of barrels of oil production to benefit the United States, the people of Venezuela and the entire world.”

During his opening remarks, Mr. Trump stepped away from the table to admire the work underway to construct the new ballroom at the White House.

“Wow, what a view. This is the door to the ballroom,” he said. “Unusual time to look but I figured we might as well.”

Mr. Trump said the ballroom will be the site of future presidential inaugurations and other events, and include bulletproof glass windows and ceilings.

“We’re ahead of schedule on the ballroom, and under budget,” he said. 

Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and other administration officials also looked at the work before the meeting began. 

Surrounded by oil executives and top administration officials, the president began the meeting at a U-shaped set of tables in the East Room. 

Mr. Trump began the meeting by saying the U.S. is doing extremely well, and Venezuela is cooperating with the U.S. The president said the operation to extract Maduro happened three days ago, although it was nearly a week ago. 

“Today I’m delighted to welcome almost two dozen of the biggest and most respected oil and gas executives in the world to the White House,” he said. 

Executives from the following firms are expected to be on hand for the meeting, according to a White House official:

• Chevron
• Exxon
• ConocoPhillips
• Continental
• Halliburton
• HKN
• Valero
• Marathon
• Shell
• Trafigura
• Vitol Americas
• Repsol
• Eni
• Aspect Holdings
• Tallgrass
• Raisa Energy
• Hilcorp

The U.S. has imposed a “quarantine” on Venezuelan oil in recent weeks, and American forces seized another oil tanker linked to the country on Friday, the fifth ship commandeered in the campaign. Rubio said this week that the quarantine gives the U.S. “tremendous leverage” over Venezuela and that the U.S. will soon begin selling up to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil on the open market. The U.S., Rubio said, will control the proceeds.

Since Venezuela nationalized its oil industry during Hugo Chávez’s regime, Chevron has been the only major U.S. oil company with a presence there. It remains unclear whether any other firms plan to enter the market imminently. 

Some experts say drawing in foreign investment could take years due to a combination of high costs, political instability and a history of the Venezuelan government nationalizing oil assets. And Venezuelan crude oil tends to be heavy and tough to refine, though some refineries on the Gulf Coast are equipped to process it.

Earlier this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt explained how the oil sales would work. 

Mr. Trump has said Venezuela will turn over 30 million to 50 million barrels to the U.S. to be sold at market value. Proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan oil products will go to both Americans and Venezuelans “at the discretion of the United States government,” she said. 

“The interim authorities have agreed to release that oil to the United States, so it will be arriving here at home very soon,” Leavitt said. “The United States government has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude oil in the global marketplace for the benefit of the United States, engaged the world’s leading commodity marketers, key banks to execute and provide financial support for these crude oil and crude product sales.” 

“All proceeds from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil and products will first settle in U.S.-controlled accounts at globally recognized banks to guarantee the legitimacy and integrity of the ultimate distribution of proceeds,” she continued. “And those funds will be dispersed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the United States government.”  

Just after 4 a.m. this morning, the president announced on Truth Social that he has “cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks” on Venezuela, at least for now. 

The president cited apparent cooperation from the country’s new regime, which he said is “releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of ‘Seeking Peace.'”

Still, he said, “all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.”

Writing on Truth Social ahead of the meeting, the president said it’s “too bad” the ballroom he’s building isn’t finished yet “because, if it were, it would be PACKED.” 

“We apologize to those Oil Companies that we cannot take today, but Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, will see them over the next week,” he wrote. “Everyone is in daily contact. Today’s meeting will almost exclusively be a discussion on Venezuelan Oil, and our longterm relationship with Venezuela, its Security, and People.”

“A very big factor in this involvement will be the reduction of Oil Prices for the American People,” he added. “Additionally, and perhaps most importantly of all, will be the stoppage of Drugs and Criminals coming into the United States of America. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”