Trump Predicts Fast, Costly Rebuild of Venezuela’s Oil Industry: ‘We Have To Nurse The Country Back’
President Donald Trump said Monday that Venezuela’s shattered oil sector could be revived in under 18 months — but warned that the path to recovery will demand billions in investment and close coordination with American energy giants.
Speaking in a televised interview with NBC News, Trump outlined an ambitious plan to rehabilitate Venezuela’s vast but neglected oil fields. “A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent,” he said. “The oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.”
While he stopped short of naming specific companies, Trump confirmed that major U.S. oil firms had already expressed interest. His message was clear: American expertise will get the job done, and Americans will benefit in the form of lower energy prices.
At its peak, Venezuela pumped over 3.5 million barrels per day. But after Hugo Chavez nationalized the oil sector in 2007, output collapsed. The country’s infrastructure decayed, and corruption replaced production. Trump called the current state of affairs a “bust,” noting that Venezuela today produces just a sliver of its potential.
Trump emphasized that while the cost will be steep, the urgency is real. “I think we can do it in less time than that,” he said, referring to the 18-month timeline. “But it’ll be a lot of money.”
He also made clear that elections in Venezuela would not happen immediately. “We have to fix the country first,” Trump said. “You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote. No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have to nurse the country back to health.”
That rebuild, he said, will be overseen by a trusted team of senior officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Vice President JD Vance are all slated to play key roles in managing the U.S. government’s involvement.
Despite the scale of the deployment and reconstruction effort, Trump was firm that the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela. “We’re not,” he said. “We’re at war with people that sell drugs. We’re at war with people that empty their prisons into our country and empty their drug addicts and empty their mental institutions into our country.”
Venezuela, he said, is a victim of socialism, not a foe of the United States. Now under U.S. supervision, the oil-rich country is poised for a potential turnaround — one that Trump believes can restore energy stability, contain regional chaos, and strengthen America’s position in the hemisphere.
With trillions in oil reserves, Venezuela may soon go from socialist failure to free-market comeback story — but only with firm American guidance, and only under President Trump’s watch.