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Ex-President Donald Trump has declared that Venezuela will be “turning over” approximately $2 billion worth of Venezuelan oil to the United States of America. This flagship negotiation would divert supplies originally destined for China while assisting Venezuela sidestep more severe oil production cuts.

“This Oil will be sold at its prevailing market price, and that proceeds will be controlled by me, as the President of the United States of America, to guarantee it is used to help the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump stated in an digital statement.

Officials in Caracas and the national oil company PDVSA have not commented on the supposed agreement.

Context: A Blockade and a Capture

Venezuela currently has huge volumes of oil aboard tankers and in onshore tanks that it has been unable to ship due to a naval blockade ordered by the Trump administration. This campaign of pressure culminated in the toppling of Nicolás Maduro, who was seized by American military forces over the past weekend.

While senior Venezuelan officials have labeled Maduro’s capture a illegal seizure and accused the US of seeking to take the country’s immense oil reserves, Tuesday’s declaration is seen as a powerful signal that the interim government is bowing to Trump’s requirement to open up to US oil companies or risk more military action.

A Separate Agenda: The Quest for Greenland

Meanwhile, Trump and his team have stated they are “exploring” a “range of options” in an attempt to acquire Greenland. A presidential statement on Tuesday noted that using the US military to do so is “on the table”.

“President Trump has made it perfectly clear that acquiring Greenland is a national security priority of the United States, and it’s essential to deter our opponents in the Arctic region,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The president and his team are evaluating a set of options to accomplish this important foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is one available path at the commander-in-chief’s command.”

Leavitt’s comments came as the leaders of major European powers expressed opposition against Trump’s long-running desire to take over the Arctic territory.

Additional Major Updates

• Aid Money Halted: The Trump administration is freezing more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited allegations of fraud and misuse.
• Limited Document Release: The Department of Justice has released less than 1% of the much-discussed Epstein files, a court filing has revealed. Democrats have escalated criticism of the administration’s “lawlessness” for withholding the documents.
• Immigration Crackdown in Minnesota: The administration has deployed more immigration agents to Minnesota, part of escalating attacks against the state and its immigrant populations. Immigration officials called it the agency’s “biggest-ever operation”.
• PM’s Strong Rebuke: Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to relinquish his “fantasies about annexation” Greenland and accused the US of “entirely 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.
• Law Enforcement Priorities Shifted: Democratic senators stated in a letter that the Trump administration has abandoned efforts to combat child exploitation, human trafficking, and cartels as it reassigns thousands of law enforcement personnel to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Market Reaction

The aftermath of the US intervention in Venezuela sent ripples through the markets. The price of oil declined after Trump’s announcement, with traders bracing for more supply entering the market. US crude fell by 1.6%, while the international benchmark, Brent crude, also slipped.

Bipartisan Opposition

The idea of an invasion against Greenland encountered immediate cross-party pushback from US legislators. Democratic 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 “the right course”, and other Republican senators warned it could lead to the “end” of NATO.

The wider diplomatic landscape remains tense, with the US concurrently engaging in major standoffs in Venezuela and the North Atlantic while carrying out divisive domestic policy shifts.