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Ex-President Donald Trump has declared that the Venezuelan government will be “turning over” approximately $2 billion worth of Venezuelan oil to the US. This key deal would reroute cargoes originally bound for China while potentially helping Venezuela sidestep deeper oil production cuts.

“This Petroleum will be sold at its Market Price, and that revenue will be managed by me, as President of the United States of America, to make certain it is used to benefit the citizens of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump wrote in an online post.

Authorities in Venezuela and the national oil company PDVSA have not commented on the alleged agreement.

Background: An Embargo and an Arrest

Venezuela currently has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and in storage tanks that it has been unable to ship due to a embargo imposed by the Trump administration. This coercive strategy ended with the toppling of Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by United States troops over the past weekend.

While top Venezuelan officials have called Maduro’s capture a illegal seizure and charged the US of seeking to take the country’s immense oil reserves, Tuesday’s statement is seen as a clear indicator that the interim government is bowing to Trump’s ultimatum to grant access to US oil companies or risk additional military incursion.

Parallel Ambitions: Acquiring Greenland

Meanwhile, Trump and his advisers have stated they are “exploring” a “spectrum of choices” in an attempt to take control of Greenland. A White House statement on Tuesday noted that using the US military to do so is “always an option”.

“President Trump has made it abundantly clear that securing Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s crucial to thwart our adversaries in the Arctic region,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The president and his team are evaluating a range of options to achieve this significant foreign policy goal, and of course, employing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s disposal.”

Leavitt’s comments came as the top officials of key European powers expressed opposition against Trump’s longstanding desire to seize the Arctic territory.

Further Significant Events

• Family Assistance Blocked: The Trump administration is freezing more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family support funds to five major states. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited allegations of fraud and misuse.
• Sealed Records: The Department of Justice has released a minuscule portion of the much-discussed Epstein files, a court filing has shown. Democrats have increased criticism of the administration’s “unlawful actions” for withholding the documents.
• Immigration Crackdown in Minnesota: The administration has dispatched more immigration agents to Minnesota, in an extension of escalating attacks against the state and its immigrant populations. Immigration officials called it the agency’s “biggest-ever operation”.
• Clear Opposition from Greenland: Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to abandon his “dreams of taking over” Greenland and accused the US of “wholly inappropriate” rhetoric. The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, previously warned that a US attack on a NATO ally would mean the “collapse” of the military alliance.
• Law Enforcement Priorities Shifted: Democratic senators claimed in a letter that the Trump administration has stopped trying to combat trafficking and cartel activity as it reassigns thousands of law enforcement personnel to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Oil Price Movement

The fallout of the US intervention in Venezuela sent tremors through global markets. The price of oil dropped after Trump’s announcement, with traders bracing for more supply hitting the market. West Texas Intermediate fell by 1.6%, while the international benchmark, Brent crude, also slipped.

Bipartisan Opposition

The idea of military action against Greenland faced immediate bipartisan pushback from US legislators. Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego vowed to introduce a resolution to block such a move. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not think military action was “the right course”, and other Republican senators warned it could lead to the “collapse” of NATO.

The wider diplomatic landscape remains uncertain, with the US at once pursuing major standoffs in South America and the North Atlantic while carrying out divisive domestic policy shifts.