TRUMP TO ACCEPT MILLION-BARREL VENEZUELAN OIL GIFT IN TEXAS: “I’M GIVING THAT TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA”
President Trump confirmed he will personally visit the tanker arriving in Corpus Christi today loaded with the first million barrels of Venezuelan crude under the new deal. Standing outside Air Force One, he told reporters the shipment is a direct result of the successful removal of the previous regime.
“We took over Venezuela very successfully, and they’ve sent me as a gift a boatload of a million barrels of oil, and I’m giving that to the United States of America,” Trump said.
Asked whether Secretary of State Marco Rubio would join him at the port, Trump replied, “I think so, yes. I believe. We’re going to do it.”
He then addressed the American people directly about what the oil means for them.
“We’re going to accept a million barrels of oil, and I’m going to give it to you people to use it the way you want. And we’re going to have oil prices that are going to be dropping very sharply very soon.”
The visit marks the first physical delivery under the August agreement that opened a significant share of Venezuela’s reserves to the United States after Maduro’s ouster.
Trump has framed the arrangement as the spoils of decisive action that benefits American drivers and refiners rather than leaving the oil under hostile control.