Trump Touts Venezuelan Oil Cargo at Texas Rally, Raises Idea of Statehood

President Donald Trump used a campaign rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Tuesday to promote an oil agreement with Venezuela, pointing to a tanker off the Texas coast that he said was carrying a million barrels of crude from the country, The Guardian reported. He also said Venezuela might one day become the 51st U.S. state.

Trump argued that the arrangement will bring relief at the pump. In a social media post, he claimed that U.S. fuel prices, which have climbed since the war with Iran began, will soon fall sharply.

What Trump said about the oil deal

According to The Guardian, Trump described the agreement as covering “billions” of barrels of oil. It was struck with Venezuela’s interim government, which is backed by his administration. At the rally, he called it a historic victory for the country and said the oil is reaching the United States at no cost to American taxpayers.

Shortly before taking the stage, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that his energy policies had turned the Western Hemisphere into the world’s energy capital, with production stretching from Alaska to Venezuela, the newspaper said.

The 51st-state remark

Trump also said Venezuela would become a prosperous country and added that it could even become a prosperous 51st state “some day soon.” He called that possible. Venezuela joins a growing list of places Trump has talked about acquiring, which includes Greenland, Canada and Mexico, according to The Guardian.

How the deal came about

The United States attacked Venezuela in January and U.S. forces captured its long-serving leader, Nicolás Maduro, in a raid on his residence in Caracas. Maduro was taken to New York to face criminal charges. The Guardian noted that nine months have passed since Trump deposed him.

The urgency behind the oil agreement stems from the war with Iran, which Trump joined in February, the newspaper reported. Gas prices have risen across the country since Iran closed the strait of Hormuz, a passageway for 20% of the world’s oil supplies.

Why it matters for American drivers and voters

For everyday Americans, the central question is what they pay for fuel. Higher gas prices after the start of the Iran war have added pressure on household budgets and the cost of living, The Guardian said. Trump is presenting the Venezuelan oil as a way to bring those prices down. The sources do not say when any such decline might arrive or how large it would be, and the claim of lower prices comes from the president himself.

The politics are also in play. Tens of millions of Americans are expected to vote in next week’s midterm elections. According to opinion polls cited by The Guardian, Trump’s aggressive foreign policy, including the war on Iran and tariffs on goods from much of the world, has weighed on his popularity, and his approval ratings have fallen to record lows. On Tuesday, he held up the Venezuela operation as evidence of success.

Criticism of the agreement

The deal has drawn skepticism. Critics say the Trump administration has not pushed Venezuela toward a transition to democracy. No elections have been held in the country since Maduro was detained by U.S. forces, The Guardian reported.

Trump has framed the arrangement as a win for U.S. energy supplies and consumers. The exact terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

What to watch

The midterm elections next week will test how voters weigh Trump’s foreign policy and the cost of fuel. Whether the tanker shown at the rally signals a lasting change in the supply of oil to the United States, and whether gas prices fall as the president predicts, will become clear only in the coming weeks and months.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian