US President Donald Trump makes an announcement on American Nuclear Innovation within the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 24, 2026.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump mentioned Monday that the U.S. has collected more than $13 billion from the sale of Venezuelan crude oil since the overthrow of former President Nicolás Maduro.
The U.S. seized management of Venezuela’s oil exports after capturing Maduro in a army raid on Jan. 3. Trump was responding to a query a couple of Financial Times‘ report that estimated how a lot cash his administration had collected from the gross sales.
“$13 billion from Venezuela? I think even more than that,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One as he traveled to Michigan to tour a General Motors’ facility. “We’ve paid for that war many times over.”
Trump mentioned the cash is used to run Venezuela. “We’re taking in a lot of money — billions and billions of dollars from Venezuela,” Trump mentioned.
The U.S. has largely left the Venezuelan authorities in place after ousting Maduro. Washington has been carefully cooperating with interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who served as vp underneath Maduro.
Democrats in Congress have pressed the administration to reveal how a lot cash it has collected from the gross sales, how the funds are spent, and the way this system is monitored.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Semafor in an April interview that the U.S. had sold round 150 million barrels of Venezuelan oil since January.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Congress in June that the oil gross sales are audited by KPMG. The cash is held in a Citibank account, Rubio mentioned.
“It’s an ongoing audit, so it’s not a once-a-year audit, it’s on every expenditure, every single disbursement is audited by KPMG,” Rubio informed Congress.
The Trump administration initially deposited $500 million in gross sales to an account in Qatar that was managed by the U.S. authorities, Wright mentioned in February. The U.S. subsequently arrange a Treasury account and stopped sending cash to the Qatar account, he mentioned.
State Department official Michael Kozak informed Congress in April that round $3 billion had been disbursed from the Treasury account. Kozak mentioned the cash was used to pay the salaries of Venezuela’s authorities employees, purchase provides for the nation’s oil trade and different authorised makes use of.
Rubio authorizes the disbursement of the funds underneath an government order issued by Trump on Jan. 9. The president’s order states that the cash is the property of the Venezuelan authorities held in a custodial capability by the U.S.
