Trump says ‘billions’ of barrels of Venezuelan oil will ‘soon’ lower gas prices
With energy prices at record highs the week before election day, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the U.S. will receive one million barrels of free Venezuelan oil, promising that gas and diesel prices “will soon come plummeting down.”
“Thanks to our renewed relationship with Venezuela, which has turned out to be a truly excellent one, the oil is being provided to the United States at NO cost to the American Taxpayer,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“This is just the first shipment of BILLIONS of barrels to come,” he added. “By unleashing Energy Dominance from Alaska, all the way down to Venezuela, I have made the Western Hemisphere the Energy Capital of the World.”
Rising gas prices due to the U.S.-Iran conflict have become a political flashpoint ahead of the midterm elections, haunting congressional Republicans, who are trailing Democrats in the polls.
Attempting to slow the rise, Trump signed an executive order earlier this month waiving penalty fees for the use of dyed diesel fuel in trucks using public highways, as well as invoked wartime authority to boost domestic oil production.
The White House is also pushing for natural gas pipeline projects in New York.
Average gas prices are still up more than a dollar from one year ago, however, due mostly to the U.S.-Iran conflict and its obstructive impact on oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, which is still ongoing.
The U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, a little less than two months after the Pentagon carried out a large-scale strike against the Venezuelan government, arresting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. Both remain in custody and are scheduled to stand trial in New York on June 1, 2027.
Since their capture, the Trump administration has been negotiating with the Maduro administration.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told concerned lawmakers in January that the Trump administration is trying to avoid triggering a civil war or refugee crisis in the country, which requires “direct, honest conversations” with the people currently in control of Venezuela’s government.
“By no means is our policy to leave in place something permanent that’s as corrupt as you’ve described,” he added. “We are just acknowledging reality, and that is, you have to work with the people that are in charge of the elements of government.”
As of October, the U.S. and Venezuela have been “getting along very well,” Trump told The Center Square, adding that the U.S. is “going to start filling up our national strategic reserves with the Venezuelan oil for very little money, and it’s going to be great.”
Mostly Cloudy
