President Donald Trump again described U.S. access to Venezuelan oil in explicitly conquest-related terms during a Sept. 16 rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, repeating a phrase he has used at multiple public appearances since a January military operation removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power.
Trump: “To the Victor Belong the Spoils”
“Working along with the government of Venezuela very well. The relationship is extraordinary. We’re taking out millions and millions of barrels of oil and I can’t get the press to talk about it,” Trump told the crowd, according to a livestream of the rally. “When they say, ‘To the victor belong the spoils,’ that’s one of the greatest cases anyone’s ever seen in history.”
Trump Used Nearly Identical Language at an August Las Vegas Event
Trump made a more extensive version of the same argument on Aug. 5 at a “Powering the American Dream” event in Las Vegas, saying the U.S. had recovered the cost of the January operation “many, many, many times” through oil extraction. “It was a 48-minute war,” Trump said, referring to the operation that captured Maduro. “And we paid for the war with what we’ve taken out many, many, many times … That’s the old-fashioned way, right? To the victor belong the spoils, right?” He added that combined with Venezuela’s reserves, “we have 60% of the world’s oil and gas.”
January Operation Captured Maduro on Drug Trafficking Charges
U.S. special operations forces captured Maduro during a raid on the Fuerte Tiuna military complex in Caracas on Jan. 3, according to an official Defense Department news release. Maduro faces federal narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges and is being held in New York. His former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, became Venezuela’s interim president following his removal.
White House Disclosed Deal Giving Pentagon a 35% Stake in Venezuelan Oil Company
The White House published an official fact sheet on Aug. 31 describing a partnership with North American Blue Energy Partners, a private company controlled by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, under which Venezuelan interim authorities granted the firm 100-year concessions to 17 oil fields holding an estimated 65 billion barrels in reserves — roughly a fifth of the country’s total proven oil. Under the deal, the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital would receive a 35% equity stake in NABEP’s corporate parent “at no cost to the American taxpayer,” which the White House said could represent “up to hundreds of billions in value and dividends.” The State Department separately secured the right to purchase 20% of output at production cost — intended in part to help refill the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve — plus right of first refusal on the remainder. NABEP pledged to invest up to $100 billion in new infrastructure and, according to the fact sheet, is projected to pay roughly $200 billion in royalties and taxes to Venezuela over the first 25 years.
Think Tank Analysis Questioned Whether the Concessions Exceed Venezuelan Law
An analysis published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a nonpartisan think tank, found the White House fact sheet’s central claim may not be legally accurate under Venezuela’s own law. The analysis noted that under Venezuela’s Organic Hydrocarbons Law, as reformed in January 2026, the state oil company PDVSA can grant private firms only specific “production participation contracts” rather than the outright 100-year concessions described in the U.S. fact sheet, raising questions about the deal’s legal foundation within Venezuela itself.
Congress Told the Pentagon It Lacks Legal Authority for the Investment
According to reporting by Semafor, Congress informed the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital that it does not have legal authority to acquire equity stakes in private companies, noting lawmakers had previously declined to approve legislative proposals that would have granted the office that power. Lawmakers requested that the administration formally notify Congress about the deal’s structure; the Pentagon and White House did not respond to Semafor’s requests for comment.
Senate Armed Services Democrat Called the Plan “a Blatant Abuse of Power”
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the plan to give the Pentagon a stake in the Venezuelan venture “a blatant abuse of power and taxpayer dollars.” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., separately wrote in an official letter that “the President of the United States has no Constitutional authority to appropriate funds to pay oil companies for doing his bidding,” arguing only Congress holds that power.
Deal’s Named Business Partner Has Faced Money-Laundering Scrutiny
Betancourt, NABEP’s controlling owner, has been the subject of international money-laundering investigations, according to multiple news reports. Secretary of State Rubio defended the choice of partner, saying Betancourt has no open investigations in the United States and that NABEP was selected because it is Venezuela’s largest private oil producer by volume.
Analysts Questioned Whether the Deal’s Ambitious Production Targets Are Realistic
NABEP, which produces roughly 200,000 barrels of oil per day, said it aims to scale toward more than 1 million barrels daily, while Venezuela’s interim president described a longer-term goal of 1.5 million barrels per day under what she characterized as a 25-year arrangement. Independent analysts have expressed skepticism that Venezuela’s oil sector, which suffered from years of underinvestment and sanctions, could be revived on that timeline even with the pledged $100 billion investment.
Trump Has Cited the Venezuela Model in Discussing the Iran War
In his August remarks, Trump connected the Venezuela framing directly to the separate war with Iran, telling the Las Vegas crowd, “we’re doing the same thing, by the way, in the lovely Islamic Republic of Iran … we’re knocking the hell out of them.” He has separately criticized the George W. Bush administration for not securing Iraqi oil following the 2003 invasion.
Venezuela Holds the World’s Largest Proven Oil Reserves
Venezuela has historically held the world’s largest proven petroleum reserves, surpassing Saudi Arabia and Iran, though years of sanctions and underinvestment sharply reduced the country’s actual production capacity well below its geological potential. Oil has historically accounted for more than 85% of Venezuela’s foreign exchange earnings.
Energy Secretary Said Government Would Not Directly Operate the Fields
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in comments on the deal that the U.S. government would not act as the operator of the Venezuelan reserves, with that role instead falling to NABEP as the private operating partner, while the Pentagon’s stake would function as a financial and strategic interest rather than direct control of drilling operations.
White House Frames the Deal as Part of a Broader Venezuela “Stabilization” Strategy
A separate White House release described the oil agreement as part of a “three-part plan of stabilization, reconstruction and democratic transition” for Venezuela following what it called “the incredible success of Operation Absolute Resolve,” the operation that removed Maduro. The administration has said many of the oil fields to be developed under the deal were previously controlled by Russian or Chinese firms or by associates of the former Maduro and Chávez governments.