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Donald Trump<\/strong> loves to huff and puff about oil. Way back in 2011, when United States troops were finally exiting Iraq, Trump insisted<\/a> that if it were up to him, he would \u201ctake the oil\u201d on the way out. Five years later, when Trump was running for president, he repeated the petroleum grab idea with the dubious claim that it would deprive ISIS of revenue.<\/p>\n Now, as Trump ramps up military pressure on Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro,<\/strong> he rants both out loud<\/a> (\u201cThey took all of our oil\u2026and we want it back)\u201d and, less coherently, online<\/a>: \u201cAmerica\u2026will not allow a Hostile Regime to take our Oil, Land, or any other Assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY.\u201d<\/p>\n The oil tirades seemed to deliver a perfect aha<\/em> moment: See, the Trump administration\u2019s campaign against Venezuela\u2014which has drawn outrage<\/a> for bombing boats that were allegedly smuggling drugs\u2014wasn\u2019t really about stopping the flow of narcotics; it was about imperialism and profiteering! That explanation made factual sense: Venezuela is a relatively minor player in the US drug trade, and losing a few small boats in the Caribbean Sea was unlikely to cause Maduro any real concern, despite what Trump\u2019s chief of staff, Susie Wiles,<\/strong> told Vanity Fair<\/em>\u2019s Chris Whipple<\/strong><\/a> in November: \u201cHe wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.\u201d<\/p>\n The oil motive also tracked with Trump\u2019s character: Money and attention are the only two things he truly cares about, so seizing Venezuela\u2019s most valuable export would be fittingly kleptocratic.<\/p>\n Maria Carina Machado,<\/strong> the opposition leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, clearly believes that the way to Trump\u2019s heart is through his wallet. In February, she appeared on Donald Trump Jr<\/strong>.\u2019s podcast to tout Venezuela\u2019s \u201cinfinite potential\u201d for US companies, and has talked up the country as \u201ca $1.7 trillion opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2023, President Trump promised to take on the cartels and protect our homeland from narcoterrorists trying to kill Americans with illicit narcotics. The entire administration is working cohesively to deliver the President\u2019s agenda to keep this poison out of our communities,\u201d says deputy White House press secretary Anna Kelly in an email response.<\/p>\n But Trump\u2019s fixation on Venezuela\u2014and, more specifically, the way he\u2019s talking about seizing the nation\u2019s resources\u2014could be more strategic than it seems\u2014in service of a goal that isn\u2019t as obvious as either national or personal enrichment. He has delivered his bombast in tandem with a naval blockade targeting tankers that were violating international sanctions, a move that could quickly have a substantial impact.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n