Venezuela provides live update as senators seek to block further military action and Trump plans post-Maduro oil strategy

President Trump said on Truth Social on Wednesday, Venezuela will use money it gets from a recent oil sales deal with the United States for “ONLY products made in the United States.”

Those purchases could include agricultural products, medicines, medical devices and equipment needed to repair the nation’s beleaguered power grid, Mr. Trump wrote.

“In other words, Venezuela is committed to doing business with the United States of America as its main partner – a wise choice and a very good thing for the Venezuelan people and for the United States,” the president continued.

Since Maduro’s capture, Mr. Trump has focused on Venezuela’s oil industryurging American companies to enter the country – a move he said could help rebuild the oil-rich country’s crumbling infrastructure.

At the same time, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that oil could serve as leverage against the remnants of the Maduro regime that continue to rule Venezuela.

Earlier Wednesday, Rubio announcement The United States will export between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil from Venezuela, which will be sold at “market rates,” with the revenue used “in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Venezuela’s interim government had agreed to release the oil. She added that the proceeds will be placed in bank accounts controlled by the United States and will be “dispersed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people, at the discretion of the United States government.”

It is unclear how much revenue will be generated from oil sales. Venezuelan crude oil, difficult to refine and historically subject to severe U.S. sanctions, has was sold at a reduced price in the past, however some refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast are installed to process the type of heavy crude oil that typically comes from Venezuela, according to Reuters.