Trump says he plans first U.S. presidential visit to Venezuela in nearly 30 years as Washington eases oil sanctions
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he plans to visit Venezuela, a move that would make him the first sitting U.S. president to travel to the country since Bill Clinton in 1997, as his administration loosened key restrictions on the South American nation’s energy sector.
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Trump announced the intent as he departed the White House for Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he met soldiers involved in the Jan. 3 operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “I’m going to make a visit to Venezuela,” Trump told reporters, adding that no date has been set.
The planned trip underscores a rapid shift in U.S.-Venezuela relations after January’s operation and the installation of Maduro’s former deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, as his replacement. Earlier this week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright became the first member of Trump’s Cabinet to visit Caracas, meeting Rodriguez and touting a surge in oil sales.
“They’ve done a great job. The oil is coming out, and a lot of money is being paid,” Trump said Friday, praising Rodriguez’s government while again downplaying the prospect of backing an opposition figure.
Hours after Trump spoke, the U.S. Treasury Department issued the largest sanctions reprieve since Maduro’s removal, unveiling two general licenses aimed at reviving Venezuela’s oil and gas output. One license allows several Western oil majors with existing footprints in the country to expand operations with state-run PDVSA. The companies named by Treasury include:
- Chevron
- BP
- Eni
- Shell
- Repsol
A second license permits foreign companies to enter new oil and gas investment contracts with PDVSA. Any such deals will require case-by-case approval from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and will not extend to Russia, Iran, China or entities owned by nationals of those countries.
Trump has said he is seeking $100 billion in foreign investment for Venezuela. Wright said Venezuelan oil sales since Maduro’s capture had reached $1 billion and would climb to $5 billion within months, adding that the United States would control proceeds until a “representative government” is established in Caracas.
Rodriguez, who has sought to thaw relations with Washington, has overseen several concessions, including freezing oil shipments to Cuba, backing legislation to open Venezuela’s state-dominated oil industry to foreign companies and releasing hundreds of political prisoners. On Thursday, lawmakers in Venezuela’s parliament debated a bill that would grant amnesty to political prisoners; the measure had not passed as of Friday.
Trump’s remarks came alongside fresh scrutiny of U.S. actions in Venezuela. Legal experts have called the January operation a violation of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty, regardless of Washington’s position on Maduro’s disputed 2024 election. UN experts have also criticized U.S. control over oil revenues as infringing on Venezuelans’ right to self-determination.
Trump lauded the operation at Fort Bragg, describing it as a decisive show of force. The Jan. 3 assault killed more than 100 Cuban and Venezuelan security personnel, according to U.S. accounts of the mission. “Everybody was running for the hills,” Trump said. “We have the strongest military in the world by far.”
A presidential visit would cap a dramatic reversal from Trump’s first term between 2017 and 2021, when Washington imposed sweeping sanctions that helped cripple Venezuela’s oil industry. The White House has not provided a timeline or itinerary for the proposed trip.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
