The President of the United States considers Venezuela's oil reserves to be his own. He already counts them as his own, and thanks to this, Donald Trump believes that the country he leads has more oil than any other in the world.
"We have a lot of oil. The United States has more oil than anyone else. If we add Venezuela as well, it's as if we have much more than any other," Trump stated yesterday in Ankara during the press conference he held with the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This is the same conference where, right at the beginning of the summit held in the Turkish capital, he tested NATO by reiterating his threats regarding Greenland and Danish sovereignty.
Therefore, Trump returned to his expansionist discourse, which also led him to intervene precisely in Venezuela in the early days of this year, arresting Nicolás Maduro and appointing Delcy Rodríguez as the designated president. The reasons he cited were drug trafficking, human rights violations, and institutional crisis. But in case there was any doubt, it became clear yesterday that the immense oil reserves that the country holds were a significant factor in his actions. They are the most extensive in the world, specifically, so yes, if Trump claims them as his own, the US would be the country with the most oil in the world.
The magnate's statement about Venezuelan oil came when explaining the reason for his intervention in Iran, another focus of his actions in the tumultuous start of the year. He said that they did not start a war with the country for oil. "We didn't do it for that reason," he stated, before pointing out that he has Venezuela's reserves. His goal, he continued, was to eliminate Iran's nuclear capability, something that does not seem to have been achieved.
Regarding another war, the one in Ukraine, Trump stated that the end of the confrontation is near, something that is far from clear. "I think both want to reach an agreement. It's a shame it has taken so long, but I think something will come out of all this," he said referring to Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. However, European intelligence services indicate that the Russian president is not actually interested in any kind of peace and, in fact, his intention is to continue his war campaign by attacking a country in the European Union.
A meeting between Zelensky and Trump will take place during this NATO summit. In that meeting, the Ukrainian president wants to show the US leader that the war is changing course. That the Ukrainian army is advancing, and therefore the magnate should pressure Putin to sit at the negotiation table.
"The president will meet with him to discuss how we can end the war. That has been a priority for a long time," confirmed a senior US official, as reported by Afp. And Trump, this same source added, "will subsequently address" the issue with Putin.