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From the Wall Street Journal: President Trump said Wednesday he was revoking a Biden-era license allowing Chevron to produce oil in Venezuela over what he said was strongman Nicolás Maduro’s failure to assist in deporting migrants.
The move is a reversal of the administration’s monthlong rapprochement with Maduro and appears to be a setback for Chevron, the U.S. oil company that former President Joe Biden granted an exception to American sanctions to pump in Venezuela in 2022. Trump didn’t mention Chevron but said on his social-media platform, Truth Social, that he was canceling a Nov. 26, 2022, license, which is when the company got its concession.
Trump said Chevron’s license will be terminated as of March 1, requiring the company to wind down its Venezuelan operations within months. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said in a post on X that in light of the president’s directive, he was issuing “foreign policy guidance to terminate all Biden-era oil and gas licenses that have shamefully bankrolled the illegitimate Maduro regime.”
In a post on Truth Social Wednesday, President Trump announced:
We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022, and also having to do with Electoral conditions within Venezuela, which have not been met by the Maduro regime.
Additionally, the regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to.
I am therefore ordering that the ineffective and unmet Biden “Concession Agreement” be terminated as of the March 1st option to renew. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Secretary of State Marco Rubio then announced, “Today, pursuant to @POTUS directive, I am providing foreign policy guidance to terminate all Biden-era oil and gas licenses that have shamefully bankrolled the illegitimate Maduro regime.”
Today, pursuant to @POTUS directive, I am providing foreign policy guidance to terminate all Biden-era oil and gas licenses that have shamefully bankrolled the illegitimate Maduro regime.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) February 27, 2025
The Wall Street Journal also explained: Trump’s announcement came just as son Donald Trump Jr. was recording a podcast with Venezuela’s opposition leader, María Corina Machado, who has been living in hiding in Venezuela to avoid arrest since leading an effort last year to challenge Maduro’s claims of winning re-election. The U.S. and many of its allies say he lost and recognize his rival Edmundo González as the country’s rightful president.
Below is a video of that moment:
While I was interviewing @MariaCorinaYA , my father decided to break some YUGE news.
What a moment.
Still not tired of winning. pic.twitter.com/KdWLiyMgxp
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 27, 2025
Rep. Maria Salazar reacted, writing, “THANK YOU President Trump for ENDING Chevron’s licenses in Venezuela. They pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into Maduro’s pockets, profiting off the suffering of every Venezuelan seeking freedom. They’re as evil as the regime they are enabling. Leadership matters! 🇺🇸.”
THANK YOU President Trump for ENDING Chevron’s licenses in Venezuela.
They pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into Maduro’s pockets, profiting off the suffering of every Venezuelan seeking freedom. They’re as evil as the regime they are enabling.
Leadership matters! 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/CLFLthJyL1
— Rep. María Elvira Salazar (@RepMariaSalazar) February 26, 2025
President Trump said he was revoking a Biden-era license allowing Chevron to produce oil in Venezuela over what he said was strongman Nicolás Maduro’s failure to assist in deporting migrants
https://t.co/1hRQm6p308 via @WSJ
— Wes Tomaselli (@wesleytomaselli) February 27, 2025
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