WATCH: Trump Announces Plans For Retaking Control Of Venezuela’s Oil Industry

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that the United States will be retaking control of Venezuela’s oil sector in order to help rebuild the country and provide economic benefit for U.S. citizens.

While flanked by senior cabinet officials at Mar-A-Lago,Trump announced that the United States had successfully conducted a large-scale military operation in Venezuela, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both are currently en route to New York to face charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation, and related offenses.

Trump described the raid as an “extremely successful operation” and a “very complex maneuver,” noting that he observed Maduro’s capture “literally like I was watching a television show.”

The president further confirmed that there were no U.S. fatalities during the operation. “You know, that we had nobody killed was amazing,” while adding that a “couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape.”

He then shifted his focus to Venezuela’s future following Maduro’s removal. “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he said, adding that allowing remnants of the Maduro regime to regain control would render the operation pointless.

“So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition, and it has to be judicious, because that’s what we’re all about. We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela,” he said.

Trump added that U.S. forces are “there now” and will be remaining for the foreseeable future. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” the president stressed.

On the topic of oil, Trump highlighted plans for U.S. involvement in revitalizing Venezuela’s petroleum sector, which he described as severely deteriorated under Maduro’s regime. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”

This plan, Trump said, aims to repair the “badly broken infrastructure” and generate revenue for Venezuela, with Trump indicating that American firms would invest heavily to restore operations and ensure economic benefits flow back to the Venezuelan people, as well as the United States.

American firms like ExxonMobil (formerly Creole) and ConocoPhillips played a major role in developing Venezuela’s oil industry, investing millions in exploration and production under lease agreements. In 1976, under President Carlos Andrés Pérez, Venezuela nationalized its oil sector, compensating U.S. companies with about $1 billion for expropriated assets, which was largely accepted at the time.

However, in 2007, under President Hugo Chávez, the government seized control of major Orinoco Belt projects without adequate compensation, affecting stakes held by ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and others. This led to international arbitration where ExxonMobil won $1.6 billion in 2014, and ConocoPhillips pursued ongoing claims for billions more.

Trump and advisors like Stephen Miller have framed these 2007 actions as “the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property” in the nation’s history. “They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back. They illegally took it,” the president said during a recent press briefing.