Trump calls off second wave of attacks on Venezuela after ‘cooperation’ | Donald Trump News

The US president also said he would meet with oil executives on Friday at the White House to discuss Venezuela’s oil industry.

United States President Donald Trump said he had called off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela following the South American nation’s “cooperation.”

The president said Friday that Venezuela would release a large number of political prisoners as a sign of “seeking peace”, following last week’s US military operation aimed at kidnapping President Nicolas Maduro.

“This is a very important and smart move. The United States and Venezuela are working well together, particularly in rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure,” Trump said on Truth Social.

“Due to this cooperation, I have canceled the previously expected second wave of attacks, which does not appear to be necessary, however, all ships will remain “in place for safety and security reasons,” his message adds.

Trump’s comments come hours after he indicated in an interview on Fox News’ Hannity that Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado “She was coming to Washington next week, having previously rejected the idea of ​​working with her, saying “she didn’t have the support or respect within the country.”

The Republican president, however, told the New York Times on Wednesday that the United States “got along very well” with the Venezuelan government, led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

During the Fox interview, Trump also said he would meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday and that oil companies would spend “at least $100 billion in Venezuela,” which he repeated in his Truth Social article.

“At least $100 billion will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will meet today at the White House,” Trump wrote on his social media platform ahead of the rally, where he was expected to convince oil executives to support his projects in Venezuela.

The Trump administration has repeatedly said it rules Venezuela, with Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying Wednesday that Washington would “indefinitely” control the country’s oil industry.

Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s deputy, said his government remained in charge, with the state oil company saying only that it was in negotiations with the United States over oil sales.

American media NBC News reported that executives from Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips were expected at the White House meeting.

“This is simply a meeting to discuss, obviously, the tremendous opportunity that these oil companies have right now,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday.

Chevron is the only U.S. company that currently has a license to operate in Venezuela. Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips left the country in 2007, after refusing President Hugo Chavez’s demand to cede a majority stake in local operations to the government.

Sanctioned by Washington since 2019, Venezuela has around a fifth of the world’s oil reserves and was once a major supplier of crude to the United States.

But it produced only about 1% of total global crude production in 2024, according to OPEC, after being hampered by years of underinvestment, sanctions and embargoes.

Trump views the country’s enormous oil reserves as a boon in his fight to further lower U.S. domestic fuel prices, a major political issue.

But he could have a daunting task convincing major U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela due to uncertainty over post-Maduro governance, security and the huge expense of restoring production facilities.