Oil executives are set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday to discuss investments in Venezuela, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.
Trump previously said he spoke to U.S. oil companies prior to the raid on Venezuela, even as he said he opted to forego disclosure to members of Congress ahead of time due to concerns about possible leaks. The attack resulted in the removal of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said he had held conversations with “all” the oil companies “before and after” the raid.
When asked on Monday by NBC News whether he had briefed the oil companies prior to the operation, Trump said, “No. But we’ve been talking to the concept of, ‘what if we did it?’”
“The oil companies were absolutely aware that we were thinking about doing something,” Trump added in response to NBC News. “But we didn’t tell them we were going to do it.”
Trump has not provided details about the nature or exact timing of the conversations, nor has he identified specific companies.
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Following the operation, Trump said on Saturday the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for an unspecified “period of time.” Trump also touted plans to take a U.S. role in the Venezuelan oil industry
“We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” Trump said on Saturday, suggesting U.S. oil companies would benefit.
In a statement to ABC News on Wednesday, Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne said the firm “had no advance notice of the recent operation.”
“Our executives meet regularly with government, regulatory and joint venture stakeholders globally as a normal course of Chevron’s business, in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, including U.S. policy,” Turenne added.
ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment about possible contacts with Trump. Both of those companies stopped doing business in Venezuela nearly two decades ago.
While touting potential U.S. oil interests in Venezuela, the Trump administration has described the operation as a law enforcement function rather than a military attack.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are among six defendants named in a four-count superseding indictment that accused them of conspiring with violent, dangerous drug traffickers for the last 25 years. Maduro was indicted on related charges in 2020. He has long denied all the allegations, and he pleaded not guilty on Monday. Flores also pleaded not guilty.
In a post on X, Attorney General Pam Bondi described the operation as a “mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers.”
Alongside remarks about his contacts with oil companies, Trump maintained that he could not brief members of Congress prior to the operation. In a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence on Saturday, the president said he did not tell members of Congress beforehand because lawmakers have a “tendency to leak.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed that view.
“It’s just not the kind of mission that you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission,” Rubio said on Saturday.The Trump administration contacted members of Congress “immediately” after the operation, Rubio added, saying the attack was “not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on. “
In a post on X, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., lauded the attack as a “decisive action.” Thune later told reporters he is “comfortable with the notification I had.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., agreed, saying the operation “did not require prior consent of Congress [or] prior authorization of Congress.”
Some Democratic members of Congress criticized the Trump administration for its choice to forego notifying lawmakers. In a post on X on Saturday, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., accused Trump of a failure to answer questions about the Venezuela attack, which is “why there was no briefing to Congress to explain this action.”
The War Powers Resolution, enacted in 1973, requires the president to inform Congress within 48 hours of thrusting the military into hostilities. After 60 days, the president must end use of the military unless he or she receives Congressional approval. Oftentimes, Congress grants approval via an authorization of the use of military force, but it has not done so in the case of Venezuela.
Federal statute mandates the president inform a bipartisan group of eight, high-ranking members of Congress prior to particularly covert operations.
Venezuela boasts the biggest proven oil reserve of any country, amounting to roughly 303 billion barrels or about 17% of the world’s reserves, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a government agency.
After the military operation, Trump outlined a role for U.S. oil companies in Venezuela, saying the firms would spend money to improve the nation’s infrastructure and output.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies — the biggest anywhere in the world — go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure,” Trump said on Saturday.
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So far, the major oil firms have yet to speak publicly about the plan.
In a previous statement to ABC News, ConocoPhillips said the firm is keeping tabs on the ongoing situation.
“ConocoPhillips is monitoring developments in Venezuela and their potential implications for global energy supply and stability. It would be premature to speculate on any future business activities or investments,” the company said.
Chevron told ABC News on Monday that it continues to focus on its current operations.
“Chevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations,” it said in a statement.
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