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Ex-President Donald Trump has announced that the Venezuelan government will be “turning over” around $2 billion worth of crude oil from Venezuela to the United States. This major agreement would divert supplies originally bound for China while allowing Venezuela avoid deeper oil production cuts.

“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that proceeds will be overseen by me, as the President of the United States of America, to make certain it is used to assist the population of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump stated in an online post.

Venezuelan government officials and the state company PDVSA offered no response on the alleged agreement.

The Situation: An Embargo and an Arrest

Venezuela currently has huge volumes of oil loaded on tankers and in onshore tanks that it has been prevented from shipping due to a embargo imposed by the Trump administration. This campaign of pressure ended with the toppling of Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by US forces over the past weekend.

While top Venezuelan officials have called Maduro’s capture a illegal seizure and alleged the US of trying to steal the country’s immense oil reserves, Tuesday’s declaration is seen as a strong sign that the current government is bowing to Trump’s demand to open up to US oil companies or face the risk of further military incursion.

Parallel Ambitions: The Pursuit of Greenland

Meanwhile, Trump and his aides have stated they are “looking into” a “variety of possibilities” in an bid to acquire Greenland. A White House statement on Tuesday noted that using the US military to do so is “on the table”.

“President Trump has made it abundantly clear that acquiring Greenland is a vital security interest of the United States, and it’s vital to counter our opponents in the Arctic region,” said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “The president and his team are evaluating a range of options to achieve this significant foreign policy goal, and of course, utilizing the US military is one available path at the commander-in-chief’s command.”

Leavitt’s comments came as the top officials of major European powers expressed opposition against Trump’s persistent desire to seize the Arctic territory.

Other Key Developments

• Family Assistance Blocked: The Trump administration is blocking more than $10 billion in federal child and family aid funds to California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cited concerns about fraud and misuse.
• Limited Document Release: The Department of Justice has released a tiny fraction of the much-discussed Epstein files, a court filing has shown. Democrats have escalated criticism of the administration’s “unlawful actions” for withholding the documents.
• ICE Surge in Minnesota: The administration has deployed more immigration agents to Minnesota, continuing escalating attacks against the state and its immigrant populations. Immigration officials called it the agency’s “largest operation to date”.
• Greenland’s Firm Rejection: Greenland’s Prime Minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, urged Trump to give up his “fantasies about annexation” Greenland and accused the US of “wholly inappropriate” rhetoric. The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mette Frederiksen, previously warned that a US attack on a NATO ally would mean the “collapse” of the military alliance.
• Resources Diverted from Trafficking: Democratic senators claimed in a letter that the Trump administration has abandoned efforts to combat child exploitation, human trafficking, and cartels as it reassigns thousands of law enforcement personnel to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Market Reaction

The aftermath of the US intervention in Venezuela sent tremors through global markets. The price of oil declined after Trump’s announcement, with traders bracing for more supply hitting the market. US crude fell by 1.6%, while the international benchmark, Brent crude, also dropped.

Bipartisan Opposition

The idea of using the military against Greenland faced immediate cross-party criticism from US legislators. Democrat Senator Ruben Gallego vowed to introduce a resolution to block such a move. GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson said he did not think military action was “the right course”, and other Republican senators warned it could lead to the “collapse” of NATO.

The wider geopolitical landscape remains fraught, with the US concurrently involved in high-stakes disputes in South America and the North Atlantic while enacting divisive domestic policy shifts.