Trump urges investment as U.S. takes control of Venezuela’s oil industry

WASHINGTON — The United States announced it will take indefinite control over Venezuela’s oil sales and revenue, a move that comes just days after the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.

President Donald Trump is seeking billions of dollars in investment from American companies to revitalize the South American nation's struggling oil industry. Washington officials argue the plan will provide economic benefits to both the Venezuelan people and the United States.

Venezuela currently holds the world's largest proven oil reserves. However, the move has drawn sharp backlash from critics who labeled the intervention as "neocolonialism" and a direct attempt to seize foreign energy resources.

The takeover places Venezuela at the center of an intensifying global power struggle over economic influence and energy security.

The Trump administration has signaled a radical shift in its Venezuela strategy, moving beyond traditional economic sanctions toward a policy of direct oversight that could fundamentally realign global energy markets. By seeking to reintegrate Venezuela’s massive crude reserves into the global supply chain under U.S. management, Washington aims to exert significant downward pressure on international oil prices—a move with immediate implications for energy-dependent economies like Vietnam.

While a decline in crude benchmarks offers short-term economic tailwinds for importers in Hanoi, the strategy introduces a destabilizing geopolitical precedent. For a Vietnamese leadership that has long anchored its foreign policy in the principles of national sovereignty and non-interference, the unilateral control of another nation’s natural resources is a cause for profound concern. This maneuver not only challenges the established international order but also raises questions regarding the long-term sanctity of sovereign assets.

Furthermore, the execution of such a plan remains fraught with operational and political risk. Success would require massive capital injections into a highly volatile environment, all while facing certain domestic resistance within Venezuela and diplomatic blowback from Washington’s global rivals. As the U.S. attempts to rewrite the playbook on resource diplomacy, the international community must weigh the benefits of cheaper energy against the potential erosion of traditional diplomatic norms.

For the Vietnamese-American community, the most immediate impact will be felt at the pump. If U.S. strategies to boost the global oil supply are successful, gas prices in states like California and Texas could drop significantly. This would provide much-needed relief for small businesses—from the nail salon industry to local phở restaurants—while easing the financial burden on families across Little Saigon and beyond.