Sen. Ruben Gallego slams Trump's claim of U.S. making a fortune from Venezuelan oil

U.S. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) slammed President Donald Trump's claim that the U.S. made a fortune from Venezuelan oil, citing record-high gas prices in the country. The President on Friday touted the success of the swift military operation against former President Nicolas Maduro, in an interview with Fox, claiming it had benefited the U.S. However, due to the Iran war, global oil prices have surged over $100 per barrel, which has in turn caused a spike in gas prices in the U.S. 

On Friday, Trump claimed that "we have made a fortune with their oil," claiming that Venezuela also made "more money in the last eight months than they've made in the last 10 years." He touted that he spent his first four years building the "most powerful military in the world" that was "shown in Venezuela," adding that the operation to remove Maduro took "48 minutes and 13 seconds, and it was over." Reacting to his comments on X, Gallego wrote, "'We' to Trump means his rich friends, not the person paying $5 per gallon of gas." 

The comments come as gas prices in the U.S. are up by 50% since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, resulting in the shutdown of the critical global crude oil shipping lane, the Strait of Hormuz. The average fuel price reached $4.51 this week, according to AAA, nearing the all-time high of $5, which was recorded in 2022. While the price increase has stretched the household budgets of Americans, oil companies, including Exxon and Chevron, are projecting big profit gains in the ongoing second quarter, despite some of their Middle Eastern operations being disrupted, partly due to the higher prices, according to Fortune. 

Further, on Sunday, global oil markets reacted poorly after Trump issued yet another threat to Tehran. On Truth Social, the President claimed Iran is "running out of time" and "there won't be anything left of them" if they don't act fast and speed up the peace negotiations. The threat pushed the global benchmark Brent crude 1.7% higher at $111.13, while US-traded oil went up by 2.1% at $107.62, according to the BBC. 

Meanwhile, earlier this month, Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods predicted that crude oil and fuel prices would continue to surge higher if the Strait of Hormuz remains blockaded. Woods claimed that the current surge, which is well above $100, does not come close to matching the "historically unprecedented disruption" that was caused as the Strait is responsible for the flow of almost 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). "If you look at the unprecedented disruption in the world's supply of oil and natural gas, the market hasn't seen the full impact of that yet," Woods told Fortune. "So there's more to come if the strait remains closed," he added. Meanwhile, exports from Venezuela aren't expected to cool the prices down anytime soon, as it doesn't export any natural gas, and the fuller restoration of Venezuela's oil and gas industry could take a significant amount of time and investment, as per The Conversation.