Trump hails 'historic' deal for US to control 65bn barrels of Venezuela's oil

# Why This Matters If the Trump administration has secured control of Venezuelan oil reserves, the geopolitical and economic implications would be substantial. Access to 65 billion barrels would reduce US dependence on Middle Eastern suppliers and potentially moderate domestic gas prices by diversifying America's crude sources, though the magnitude of that impact depends on extraction rates and refining capacity. The agreement would represent a dramatic reversal in US-Venezuela relations and could reshape Latin American politics by strengthening US leverage in the region while either stabilizing or destabilizing the Venezuelan government depending on how the arrangement is structured and what revenue flows back to Caracas. Such a deal would also signal a shift in Trump's foreign policy toward resource-based diplomacy and could trigger responses from other powers competing for influence in Venezuela, particularly China and Russia, who have substantial economic interests there.