WASHINGTON, D.C. - MIAMI - AVENTURA, Fla. — President Donald Trump told House Republicans on Tuesday that his priority in Venezuela was increasing supply to lower the price of oil in the United States.

Later on Truth Social, Trump announced that Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s interim president, and her administration “will be turning over between 30 to 50 million barrels of ”sanctioned" oil to the U.S.

“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me,” Trump wrote, adding that he will “ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela” and the U.S.

Trump added that he asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute the plan immediately.

“It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States,” Trump wrote.

Wright was at the Goldman Sachs Energy, Clean Tech & Utilities Conference at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura.

Experts share concerns about Trump's plans in Venezuela

“I would be happy to have oil prices go down,” Mohammad Alam said, as he welcomed Trump’s plan at a gas station in Miami-Dade County.

Albert Williams, an economist with Nova Southeastern University, said that if Trump manages to persuade oil companies to invest billions, it could take years to see a difference at the pump.

“The CEOs, sure, in principle, want to go in and take oil, but it takes way more than that. They’re global companies with shareholders,” Williams said. “They have to be accountable to those shareholders.”

While State Secretary Marco Rubio can use the sanctions for leverage, Williams said that eventually the U.S. will have to reopen trade.

“Venezuela has 30-plus million people. That’s a lot of business that can open up for our American companies to send stuff over there,” Williams said. “Anything we do for Venezuela right now, injecting capital in foreign and direct investment, is going to have positive results.”

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lists Venezuela as the country with the most crude oil reserves in the world.

Francisco Monaldi is among the energy and economic policy experts who contest the ranking and put Venezuela as having the largest reserves outside the Middle East.

“Venezuela has infinite oil reserves, although costlier and less valuable than the ones of its peers in the Middle East,” Monaldi wrote on LinkedIn last year, adding that “Venezuela could produce 5-7 times as much oil as it produces. The problem is not below ground; it is above it and it is political.”

DEADLY OPERATION

In Venezuela, Rodríguez declared seven days of mourning to deal with the aftermath of the U.S. military operation in Caracas.

“There is no war here because we are not at war,” Rodríguez said in Spanish during her appearance on VTV on Tuesday. “We are a people, a country of peace.”

The death toll of Saturday’s raid to capture Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas increased to 57, and included Cubans, Venezuelans, and a Colombian civilian.

After Cuban officials reported 32 Cuban nationals died trying to prevent the capture of Maduro, 63, in Caracas, Venezuelan officials reported 24 Venezuelan nationals also died defending him and Flores, 69.

Colombian officials reported that a Colombian woman, who was not involved in the conflict, died, and her adult daughter was injured in Caracas during an explosion.

The Pentagon reported that seven U.S. servicemembers were injured and a U.S. helicopter was damaged during the operation in Caracas.

Maduro and Flores were at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Their next hearing is on March 17.

Today’s related coverage

Cubans in Miami's Little Havana react to Trump's ‘Donroe Doctrine’

More related stories “en español”

Trump: Venezuela’s interim government will turn over up to 50 million barrels of ‘sanctioned’ oil to U.S.

Trump: U.S. to get 30-50 million oil barrels from Venezuela to be sold at market price

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