Trump's Venezuela Attack: It’s All About the Oil, Stupid!
*Trump on Dec. 28, 2025. Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images*
To understand why Donald Trump just (illegally) [attacked][1] Venezuela and kidnapped the country’s president and his wife, you only need to look at this [chart,][2] which is based on OPEC numbers.
*Via [Statista][3].*
Trump didn’t attack Venezuela because it produces fentanyl. [It doesn’t][4]. He didn’t attack Venezuela because President Nicolás Maduro controls the Tren de Aragua gang. [He doesn’t][5]. He didn’t attack Venezuela because Maduro is the head of the Cartel de los Soles. [It doesn’t even exist][6].
It’s about the oil, stupid!
[Subscribe now][7]
Don’t believe me? Think it sounds a little conspiratorial?
Well, here’s the thing: Donald Trump, the self-declared ‘peace president,’ the serial liar, also likes to say the quiet part out loud from time to time.
In 2003, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney at least *pretended* their illegal invasion of Iraq and toppling of Saddam Hussein wasn’t about Iraq’s oil. It was about democracy! WMDs! Al-Qaeda!
Donald Trump, weirdly, shamelessly, and luckily for us, has been brutally honest on the subject of Venezuela and his motivation for regime change in Caracas.
Here he is in his own words.
### **1. “Return the oil”**
[ Read more ][8]
[1]: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01/03/world/trump-united-states-strikes-venezuela
[2]: https://www.statista.com/chart/16830/countries-with-the-largest-proven-crude-oil-reserves/
[4]: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/us/politics/trump-venezuela-fentanyl.html
[6]: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/01/americas/trump-venezuela-maduro-drug-threat-analysis-intl-latam
[7]: https://zeteo.com/subscribe?