The White House on Wednesday stopped short of denying reports that the United States has urged Venezuela to cut ties with adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran, but emphasised Washington’s determination to maintain “American dominance” in the western hemisphere and all decisions made by Caracas will be “dictated” by the US.
During a media briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cited frequent leaks coming out of classified briefings and stated she would “not confirm or deny or get into” what senior administration officials told in “classified settings” to members of Congress.
However, she stated that the administration has made it “quite clear” to the interim authorities in Venezuela that “this is the western hemisphere and American dominance is going to continue under this president”.
Hours later, US President Donald Trump took to social media to announce a major economic pivot by Caracas, saying Venezuela had agreed to use revenue from a new oil arrangement to buy only American‑made goods, from agricultural produce to medical devices, and to treat the US as its “principal partner”.
Trump framed the shift as a “wise choice” and a “very good thing” for the people of Venezuela and the US. The “America first” politician did not provide any details of the mentioned oil deal.
Leavitt earlier in the day asserted that the US “obviously” has “maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now”, declaring that all decisions made by Venezuela’s interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez “are going to continue to be dictated by the United States of America”.
The White House response followed reports of a high-stakes, classified briefing with a select group of lawmakers on Monday, led by Secretary of State and acting National Security Adviser Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other senior Trump administration members. All members of the Senate and House of Representatives were subsequently briefed on Wednesday.
In a statement to the Post, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for China’s embassy in Washington, warned that “carving out a sphere of influence or creating geopolitical confrontation will not make a country safer, still less bring peace to the world”.
He added that the US “bullying seriously breaches international law, infringes on Venezuela’s sovereignty, and violates the rights of the Venezuelan people. China strongly condemns this”.
When asked how this could impact US-China ties on Wednesday, Leavitt simultaneously affirmed that Trump maintains “very open, honest and good” personal relationships with both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
But she added that the US will continue to seize “dark fleet” tankers and enforce a total maritime embargo. Earlier in the day, US forces seized two sanctioned ships: one flying the Russian flag in European waters and another in the Caribbean.
The move followed dramatic events last weekend, when the US carried out what it called a “law enforcement” operation to capture Venezuela’s former president Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and a Tuesday announcement from Trump that Venezuela would turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil immobilised by US sanctions.
Rubio says US three-step plan for Venezuela is stability, recovery and transition
The US “has already begun marketing Venezuelan crude oil” in the global marketplace, Leavitt said on Wednesday, a move that Rubio told reporters was part of a three-part US plan to stabilise Venezuela.
Speaking to reporters after Wednesday’s Senate briefing, Rubio said: “We’re going to sell it in the marketplace, at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed, in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.”
A second phase would focus on “recovery”, he said, including reopening Venezuela’s market to the US, Western and other companies under what he described as fair conditions, alongside a national reconciliation process that would include amnesties for opposition figures and rebuilding civil society.
Rubio said a final phase would involve a “transition”, without providing further details. Meanwhile, lawmakers emerged from Wednesday’s classified briefings divided along partisan lines.
Republicans continued to support the Venezuela operation’s scope and tout it as a success, with some citing its role in reducing China’s influence in the country.
“Having an illegitimate communist dictator who was poisoning our country with drugs, sending criminals to our country and hosting a playground for adversaries, especially China, was a very dangerous situation that has now changed,” said Eric Schmitt, a Republican senator from Missouri, speaking to reporters.
Asked if the US should sever economic ties with China and Russia, however, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma said no and that the topic wasn’t discussed during the briefing.
“China, we want to have a relationship [with]. We want to have a relationship with Russia too, but we’re not going to allow China and Russia to back illegitimate regimes that are a criminal organisation,” he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, argued that the administration’s plan for stabilising the country was unworkable and that the operation accomplished little in improving the on-the-ground situation.
“What have we accomplished? We’ve gotten rid of Maduro. He’s in jail. But everything Maduro created – his drug operations, his repression, his anti-Americanism – is all totally intact,” said Senator Peter Welch from Vermont.
“They are talking about stealing the Venezuelan oil at gunpoint for a period of time, undefined, as leverage to micromanage the country. The scope and insanity of that plan is absolutely stunning,” said Chris Murphy, a senator from Connecticut.
Venezuela crisis not a ‘high priority’ for Beijing
Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, a New York-based consultancy, contended that the Venezuela issue “won’t affect US-China relations much”.
In an email to the Post, he said that the issue is not a “high priority” for Beijing, which had a delegation visiting Caracas last weekend when the US carried out an operation to capture Maduro and his wife.
“They surely would have appreciated a heads up on the strikes with their delegation in town meeting Maduro,” he said of Beijing, adding that China’s “dominant influence across the western hemisphere is commercial, not military and that’s not about to change”.
Bremmer noted that “much more effort is being expanded” on key issues in US-China relations, such as trade, critical minerals, semiconductors and soybeans, in the run-up to the Xi-Trump summit in April. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
