Trump bluntly admits why Venezuelan action was needed: energy security
January 8, 2026
By Gary Abernathy
The calendar had just barely heralded the new year when President Donald J. Trump got 2026 off to a rollicking start with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
The operation had been openly foreshadowed by Trump’s repeated warnings to Maduro, the systematic destruction of sea-going vessels and their crews moving drugs, and the amassing of an impressive U.S. military presence just off Venezuela’s coast.
Still, the dead-of-night swiftness and skill demonstrated by the United States military was enough to bring a collective worldwide gasp of both astonishment at a mission so expertly accomplished and a reminder of the consequences when America decides to flex its muscles.
Maduro was a South American dictator who, like his predecessor Hugo Chavez, ruled his country with an iron fist, squashing freedom and democracy, all while cozying up to U.S. adversaries like Russia and China.
Most presidents after successfully removing such an authoritarian from power would defend those actions by citing the loftiest of ideals. It was a blow for freedom, they would insist, a righteous strike for democracy, a liberation of an oppressed population yearning to live free.
As we know, Donald Trump is not most presidents. In his remarks the morning following the successful operation, as Maduro was being uncomfortably escorted to the U.S. to stand trial, Trump barely let any such high-minded rhetoric pass his lips.
Instead, he noted that Maduro had been indicted in the U.S. on narco-terrorism charges and – most importantly – had “stolen” oil from the U.S. and a number of American oil companies. In fact, it was crystal clear, based on the time and attention the president allotted to the subject, that the capture and control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves was the primary justification for removing Maduro from power and for the U.S. taking the reins there, at least for a while.
Some may fault Trump for being so blunt about the real objective of the action. But it is entirely admirable for Trump to remind the U.S. and the world of the importance of energy dominance, and it is entirely keeping with Trump’s “America First” policies. The nation that controls the energy will largely control the world, as Russia and China well know.
“We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” Trump told the assembled reporters at his press conference, while “promising that American companies would be able to tap more of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves,” as the New York Times reported.
The Times story added, “The money made, he said, would go not only to the people of Venezuela, but also to American oil companies and ‘to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country.’”
What damages? Trump reminded everyone of Venezuela’s history.
“We built Venezuela’s oil industry with American talent, drive, skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us,” Trump said, correctly. “This constituted one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country.” He added, “They stole our oil. They took it over like it was nothing.”
As Forbes described it, “While Venezuela formally nationalized its oil industry in the 1970s, beginning in the early 2000s under President Hugo Chávez, Venezuela moved beyond its earlier state ownership model and launched a wave of expropriations that fundamentally reshaped its oil sector.”
The U.S. government and American companies suffered the damages. In fact, “international tribunals later awarded billions of dollars in compensation” to such companies, which Venezuela has mostly failed to pay.
Later Saturday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told CBS, “We are going to get American companies in there. We are going to get investment in there. These oil depots have been operating at 20 percent capacity. That’s going to change.”
Trump’s political opponents will wring their hands over the constitutionality of the military action. Even many Trump supporters will worry that it violates Trump’s “America First” agenda and commits the U.S. to at least a limited degree of “nation building.”
But Trump understands a truth that supersedes any such concerns – the country that loses the struggle for energy supremacy will risk its national security, put itself at the mercy of foreign actors who could turn off our lights on a whim, and surrender the ability to ensure affordable and reliable energy for homes and businesses for generations to come.
Trump’s actions in Venezuela represent an acknowledgment that every aspect of “affordability” in regard to our economy starts with low-cost, reliable energy – a belief in line with legislation introduced in Congress to affirm America’s energy dominance. If passed, the Affordable, Reliable, Clean Energy Act – ARC-ES – will codify into U.S. law the kind of energy preeminence and security that Trump routinely champions.
Asked how his actions against Maduro line up with his “America First” agenda, Trump replied, “We want to surround ourself with energy, we have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world, and we want to make sure we can protect it.”
It’s comforting to know that when it comes to energy’s crucial role in America’s future, Trump completely gets it. So must we all.
Gary Abernathy is a longtime newspaper editor, reporter and columnist. He was a contributing
columnist for the Washington Post from 2017-2023 and a frequent guest analyst across numerous media platforms. He is a contributing columnist for The Empowerment Alliance, which advocates for realistic approaches to energy consumption and environmental conservation.