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Ex-President Donald Trump has announced that Venezuela will be “handing over” around $2 billion worth of Venezuelan oil to the United States of America. This major agreement would divert supplies originally destined for China while potentially helping Venezuela sidestep deeper oil production cuts.

“This Crude will be sold at its Market Price, and that proceeds will be managed by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to help the population of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump stated in an online post.

Venezuelan government officials and the state company PDVSA have not commented on the supposed agreement.

Background: A Blockade and a Capture

Venezuela currently has millions of barrels of oil aboard tankers and in storage tanks that it has been prevented from shipping due to a naval blockade imposed by the Trump administration. This coercive strategy ended with the removal of Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by US forces over the past weekend.

While top Venezuelan officials have labeled Maduro’s capture a illegal seizure and alleged the US of attempting to seize the country’s enormous oil reserves, Tuesday’s announcement is seen as a powerful signal that the remaining government is bowing to Trump’s ultimatum to grant access to US oil companies or be threatened with additional military action.

Parallel Ambitions: Acquiring Greenland

Meanwhile, Trump and his advisers have stated they are “examining” a “spectrum of choices” in an effort to acquire Greenland. A presidential statement on Tuesday noted that using the US military to do so is “always an option”.

“President Trump has made it well known that acquiring Greenland is a key national security objective of the United States, and it’s vital to thwart our adversaries in the Arctic region,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The president and his team are discussing a range of options to achieve this significant foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is a constant possibility at the commander-in-chief’s command.”

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

Other Key Developments

• Family Assistance Blocked: The Trump administration is withholding more than $10 billion in federal child and family aid funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited allegations of fraud and misuse.
• Epstein Files Withheld: The Department of Justice has released a tiny fraction of the so-called Epstein files, a court filing has disclosed. Democrats have stepped up criticism of the administration’s “lawlessness” for sealing the files.
• Agents Deployed to Minnesota: The administration has sent 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 “biggest-ever operation”.
• PM’s Strong Rebuke: Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to abandon his “notions of seizing” 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 “demise” of the military alliance.
• Resources Diverted from Trafficking: Democratic senators claimed in a letter that the Trump administration has ceased work 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 fallout of the US intervention in Venezuela sent ripples through global markets. The price of oil dropped after Trump’s announcement, with traders bracing for more supply entering the market. US crude 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 faced swift cross-party opposition 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 “the right course”, and other Republican senators warned it could lead to the “collapse” of NATO.

The broader geopolitical landscape remains fraught, with the US at once engaging in significant confrontations in Venezuela and the Arctic while carrying out contentious domestic policy shifts.