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Former President Donald Trump has stated that the Venezuelan government will be “turning over” an estimated $2 billion worth of crude oil from Venezuela to the United States of America. This key deal would reroute cargoes originally bound for China while allowing Venezuela evade more severe oil production cuts.

“This Petroleum will be sold at its current market value, and that money will be controlled by me, as the President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to assist the population of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump proclaimed in an social media post.

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

Context: An Embargo and an Arrest

Venezuela currently has vast quantities of oil loaded on tankers and in onshore tanks that it has been blocked from exporting due to a naval blockade ordered by the Trump administration. This campaign of pressure reached its peak with the ouster of Nicolás Maduro, who was seized by American military forces over the past weekend.

While top Venezuelan officials have called Maduro’s capture a illegal seizure and charged the US of trying to steal the country’s enormous oil reserves, Tuesday’s statement is seen as a clear indicator that the remaining government is responding to Trump’s requirement to grant access to US oil companies or be threatened with more military intervention.

A Separate Agenda: Acquiring Greenland

Simultaneously, Trump and his advisers have stated they are “looking into” a “variety of possibilities” in an effort to take control of Greenland. A White House statement on Tuesday noted that using the US military to do so is “remains a possibility”.

“President Trump has made it well known that obtaining Greenland is a key national security objective of the United States, and it’s vital to deter our rivals in the Arctic region,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The president and his team are discussing a series of options to pursue this critical foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s discretion.”

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

Additional Major Updates

• Family Assistance Blocked: The Trump administration is blocking more than $10 billion in federal child and family aid funds to several states including California and New York. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited concerns about fraud and misuse.
• Limited Document Release: The Department of Justice has released a tiny fraction of the so-called Epstein files, a court filing has revealed. Democrats have escalated criticism of the administration’s “lawlessness” for sealing the files.
• Immigration Crackdown in Minnesota: The administration has deployed more immigration agents to Minnesota, in an extension of growing pressure against the state and its immigrant populations. Immigration officials called it the agency’s “most significant crackdown so far”.
• PM’s Strong Rebuke: Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to abandon his “dreams of taking over” Greenland and accused the US of “completely and utterly unacceptable” rhetoric. The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, previously warned that a US attack on a NATO ally would mean the “end” of the military alliance.
• Focus Changed: Democratic senators claimed in a letter that the Trump administration has stopped trying to combat trafficking and cartel activity as it redirects 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 the markets. The price of oil fell after Trump’s announcement, with traders expecting more supply entering the market. West Texas Intermediate fell by more than 1.5 percent, while the international benchmark, Brent crude, also decreased.

Political Backlash

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

The wider diplomatic situation remains tense, with the US at once involved in high-stakes standoffs in South America and the North Atlantic while carrying out divisive domestic policy shifts.