World News

Rodríguez, who assumed power in January after Trump ordered the abduction of the president, Nicolás Maduro, took to the airwaves on Saturday to push back against criticism of what the US president has called “the biggest oil deal in world history”.

“The benefits are endless,” claimed Rodríguez, a former vice-president whom Trump backed after ordering Maduro’s capture during a special forces raid on the capital, Caracas.

On Sunday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuelan Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves which, because of Sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually emptied.”

Trump added: “The ‘topping out’ process will begin very shortly, and is a Gift from Venezuela to the People of the United States.”

Hours after seizing Maduro on 3 January, Trump warned Rodríguez she would face an even worse fate if she failed to toe the US line. “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump said.