Chris Wright

Activists denounce the U.S. military seizure of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro at Pershing Square in Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, January 3, 2026. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Venezuela will give the United States upwards of 50 million barrels of oil. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI. | License Photo

Jan. 6 (UPI) — Venezuela will be turning over tens of millions of barrels of oil to the United States, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, days after the U.S. military seized the authoritarian president of the country, Nicolas Maduro.

Trump said Venezuela’s interim government, sworn in Monday, will be giving the United States between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “high quality, sanctioned oil.”

“This oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

It was unclear when the United States would receive the oil, but it will be brought to the United States aboard oil tankers.

Trump said Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been asked to “immediately” execute the plan.

“On it Mr. President,” Wright said in response on X.

“You have my attention to this matter.”

The U.S. military seized Maduro from Venezuela in an early morning operation on Saturday following months of military buildup around the country and an escalating Trump administration pressure campaign. He and his wife, Cilia Flores, were brought to the United States to face narcotrafficking and other drug-related charges.

The Trump administration has been enforcing a naval blockade on Venezuelan oil since mid-December, with Trump arguing the South American country’s oil and assets of U.S. companies were “stolen from us,” referring to Caracas’ decades-old nationalization of its oil industry.

Delcy Rodriguez, former vice president under Maduro, was sworn in as president of Venezuela on Monday. However, Trump has said that the United States will be “running” the South American nation, though other administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have attempted to soften that stance.

Rodriguez is “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Rubio said Monday.

Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the United States consumed an average of 20.25 million barrels of petroleum per day in 2023.

Jan. 6 (UPI) — The Department of Energy has announced it would award $2.7 billion in funding to three companies to increase domestic uranium enrichment over the next decade.

The announcement by the Department of Energy comes as President Donald Trump has sought to reinvigorate the United States’ nuclear energy industry as it moves away from foreign sources of energy.

However, the funding authority for the awards originated under President Joe Biden‘s Investing in America agenda and related legislation that aimed to increase uranium enrichment capacity in the United States to bolster U.S. energy security and resilience, while reducing dependence on Russian energy.

With the announcement, American Centrifuge Operating, General Matter and Orano Federal Services will each receive an award of $900 million.

ACO and GM will be tasked with creating domestic high-assay, low-enriched uranium enrichment capacity, while OFS will expand U.S. domestic low-enriched uranium enrichment capacity.

The three companies were chosen from six that were permitted last year to bid on future work.

“President Trump is catalyzing a resurgence in the nation’s nuclear energy sector to strengthen American security and prosperity,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.

“Today’s awards show that this administration is committed to restoring a secure domestic nuclear fuel supply chain capable of producing nuclear fuels needed to power the reactors of today and the advanced reactors of tomorrow.”

Orano said the funding marks a “key milestone” in accelerating the development of its $5 billion facility in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

According to the company, the United States imports two-thirds of the LEU needed to power the U.S. nuclear fleet from foreign sources, including Russia, and its new IKE facility will help reduce the United States’ dependence on Moscow, especially after the ban on Russian imports begins in 2028.

“The decision by the U.S. Department of Energy is a great source of pride as it identifies Orano as a proven nuclear fuel supplier,” Orano CEO Nicolas Maes said in a statement.

General Matter said under its contract with the Department of Energy, it will build domestic enrichment capacity that will help fuel “the next generation of American nuclear power” and enable “American leadership in AI, manufacturing and other critical industries.”

“Rebuilding U.S. domestic enrichment capacity will reduce our reliance on foreign providers, strengthen our nuclear industrial base and lower energy costs for utilities and consumers,” it said in a social media post.

“American reactors need American uranium. In partnership with the Department of Energy, we will deliver it.”