Trump Reverses Course on Venezuela, Revoking Chevron Oil License

The move was triggered by what Trump said was Caracas' failure to accept deportees, make democratic reforms

- Kejal Vyas & Collin Eaton

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."

Trump's announcement came nearly a month after senior White House envoy Richard Grenell met with Maduro in Caracas to strike a deal that would restart deportation flights to the country, a pact that many regional observers thought meant the president would allow the oil to keep flowing. Maduro has long refused to accept deportees after almost eight million Venezuelans left the country during his 12-year tenure because of economic contraction and political repression.

U.S. officials had said the deal included Venezuela taking back members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which has been accused of involvement in several high-profile crimes in the U.S.