Trump says U.S. and Venezuela reached "THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!"

In a Friday social‑media post, President Donald Trump announced that the United States had reached an arrangement with Venezuela that would give the U.S. control over roughly 65 billion barrels of the South American nation's oil reserves, a deal he said was worked out by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez. The announcement follows a January military operation ordered by Trump that resulted in the removal of President Nicolás Maduro to the United States on narcotics‑related charges. The move comes as the administration confronts rising gasoline prices, a prolonged conflict in Iran, and a strategic petroleum reserve that has fallen below 300 million barrels. Venezuela, which holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude—about 17 percent of global supplies—produces only a small fraction because of aging infrastructure.