🏴‍☠️ Set Aside The Act Of Piracy

Chris Wright on seized Venezuelan oil: "We've sold about $1 billion of oil so far. We've recently signed agreements to sell about another $5 billion in the next several months. So you're talking well north of $10 billion a year ... this is way out of the box, groundbreaking Trump… pic.twitter.com/Ictj5Mc6xe

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 17, 2026

That’s half of what Venezuela was producing.

It's not the most important point, but Venezuela used to export 3 million barrels a day. At current prices, almost $2 billion a day. Not that more oil would justify the invasion (our sanctions largely caused the drop), but it's crazy to boast about these levels of production https://t.co/rQoLF6l0rs

— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) February 17, 2026

Absolutely nothing has changed about Venezuelan infrastructure, nor could it have even if Exxon had pledged to invest trillions back in that White House meeting. This is nothing more than more of the same: ETTD.

And where is the money actually going? That story seems to change weekly. And on what legal grounds (governments operate by law) is the U.S. entitled to a penny of it?