Texas, February 28 (ANI) — President Donald Trump said Friday the United States will have Venezuelan crude refined in Texas for export, calling the arrangement mutually beneficial and pledging to help “build their country, which was a disaster.” Speaking in Texas, Trump said the oil would be processed on U.S. soil: “We’re going to refine their oil right here in America and right here in Texas and then export it all over the world. We’re going to keep some for ourselves. We’re going to give some to them, and they’re going to make more money than they’ve ever made before. We’ll help build their country again, which was a disaster. And we’re going to build it up, and we’re going to benefit also,” he said.
Trump described his relationship with Venezuela’s government as “great,” noting an uptick in crude shipments. He said 360,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude were on a tanker nearby and claimed exports have risen by hundreds of thousands of barrels per day. “Venezuela, think of it, 80 million so far. We just started 80 million barrels of fuel. That’s what we’ve taken. And it’s great for Venezuela, and it’s great for us. And with our new friend and partner, Venezuela, we’re going to do a lot of other things,” he added.
The remarks follow a January 3 U.S. operation described in the report as a “large-scale strike” in Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The report says Maduro and Flores were flown out in a joint operation involving U.S. intelligence and law enforcement and have been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges including alleged drug trafficking and narco-terrorism conspiracies; they are reportedly facing trial. After Maduro’s capture, Trump had indicated Washington would “run” Venezuela during a transition and sought “total access to the oil and to other things in their country.” Vice-presidential figure Delcy Rodríguez assumed the presidency following the operation.
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