Trump says US oil companies will spend the billions needed to restore Venezuela's crude output

A photograph posted by U.S. President Donald Trump on his Truth Social account shows him sitting next to CIA Director John Ratcliffe and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as they watch the U.S. military operation in Venezuela, January 3, 2026. @realDonaldTrump/Handout via REUTERS

PALM BEACH, Florida Jan 3 (Reuters) - President Donald ‌Trump said that American oil companies were prepared to tackle the difficult task of entering Venezuela and investing to restore production in the South American country, an announcement that came just hours after ‌Nicolás Maduro was captured and removed by U.S. forces.

"We’re going to have our very large U.S. oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix ‌the badly broken infrastructure, oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country," Trump said on Saturday.