Donald Trump announced he will personally control the proceeds from up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil seized by U.S. forces—and even Stephen Colbert couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
WHAT’S GOING ON: Following a U.S. military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Trump took to Truth Social to brag that “interim authorities” in Venezuela had agreed to hand over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States.
The kicker? Trump declared the oil would “be sold at its Market Price,” with proceeds “controlled by me, as President of the United States of America.”
His stated justification: ensuring the money “is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!”
THE DETAILS: Colbert’s reaction pretty much summed up what anyone with a functioning understanding of international law might feel. “Good God,” the Late Show host said Wednesday night. “That is the most illegal-sounding thing I have ever heard.”
He wasn’t done. “The only way this could sound more illegal is if Trump parked the oil tankers in a school zone.”
As for Trump’s promise to help “the people of Venezuela”? Colbert had a prediction: “So, good news, people of Venezuela. Caracas is getting a ballroom!”
WHY IT MATTERS: Let’s be clear about what Trump actually said. The President of the United States publicly announced that he—personally—would control billions of dollars worth of another country’s natural resources. Not Congress. Not the Treasury. Not any institution with oversight. Him.
This isn’t just bragging. This is a sitting president openly describing resource extraction from a country the U.S. just invaded, with proceeds flowing to his personal discretion. There’s a word for taking another country’s resources after military action: plunder. It’s been a war crime since the Hague Conventions of 1907.
BOTTOM LINE: Trump has said a lot of wild things. But announcing on social media that he’ll personally control the sale of seized foreign oil might be the most nakedly authoritarian flex yet. And the fact that it took a late-night comedian to point out how insane this sounds tells you everything about where we are.