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Former President Donald Trump has declared that Venezuela will be “turning over” approximately $2 billion worth of Venezuelan oil to the US. This key deal would redirect shipments originally headed to China while assisting Venezuela sidestep deeper oil production cuts.

“This Crude will be sold at its prevailing market price, and that proceeds will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to guarantee it is used to help the citizens of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump wrote in an online post.

Authorities in Venezuela and the state-owned firm PDVSA offered no response on the supposed agreement.

The Situation: An Embargo and an Arrest

Venezuela currently has vast quantities of oil aboard tankers and in onshore tanks that it has been unable to ship due to a blockade imposed by the Trump administration. This coercive strategy reached its peak with the ouster of Nicolás Maduro, who was seized by United States troops over the weekend.

While top Venezuelan officials have labeled Maduro’s capture a kidnapping and charged the US of seeking to take the country’s vast oil reserves, Tuesday’s announcement is seen as a clear indicator that the interim government is responding to Trump’s requirement to open up to US oil companies or face the risk of further military incursion.

Another Goal: Acquiring Greenland

Meanwhile, Trump and his aides have stated they are “looking into” a “variety of possibilities” in an bid to obtain 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 securing Greenland is a national security priority 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 considering a range of options to accomplish this important foreign policy goal, and of course, employing the US military is always an option at the commander-in-chief’s discretion.”

Leavitt’s comments came as the top officials of leading European powers pushed back against Trump’s long-running desire to annex the Arctic territory.

Further Significant Events

• Family Assistance Blocked: The Trump administration is withholding more than $10 billion in federal childcare and family assistance funds to five major states. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited allegations of fraud and misuse.
• Limited Document Release: 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 “disregard for the law” for sealing the files.
• Immigration Crackdown in Minnesota: The administration has dispatched more immigration agents to Minnesota, continuing escalating attacks against the state and its immigrant populations. Immigration officials called it the agency’s “largest operation to date”.
• Greenland’s Firm Rejection: Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to abandon his “fantasies about annexation” Greenland and accused the US of “completely and utterly 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.
• Resources Diverted from Trafficking: Democratic senators alleged in a letter that the Trump administration has stopped trying to combat exploitation and trafficking as it reassigns thousands of law enforcement personnel to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Financial Impact

The fallout of the US intervention in Venezuela sent shockwaves through financial markets. The price of oil fell after Trump’s announcement, with traders expecting more supply hitting the market. US crude fell by over 1.5%, while the international benchmark, Brent crude, also dropped.

Bipartisan Opposition

The idea of military action against Greenland faced swift cross-party pushback from US legislators. Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego vowed to introduce a resolution to block such a move. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not think military action was “appropriate”, and other Republican senators warned it could lead to the “demise” of NATO.

The broader diplomatic situation remains tense, with the US at once engaging in major standoffs in Venezuela and the North Atlantic while carrying out controversial domestic policy shifts.