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How the Pentagon Is Getting Into the Venezuelan Oil Business Under Trump

The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital, founded by the Biden administration to give loans to bolster the U.S. defense industry, is helping lead President Trump’s oil deal.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

President Trump said his defense secretary and secretary of state reached an agreement with the Venezuelan government on securing billions of barrels of oil reserves “through a partnership with private business.”

Trump Says U.S. Struck Deal for Control of More Than 65 Billion Barrels of Venezuela’s Oil

The president said an agreement between the countries covered more than 65 billion barrels of reserves. A U.S. official said it would involve a partnership with a private company.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times

An oil refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, in 2021. Venezuela’s president, Delcy Rodríguez, said a U.S. oil deal would have a “significant impact on our nation’s revival.”
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