"Theft of American property' Legal experts reject claim

Hailing the US military operation to seize Nicolás Maduro as spectacular, extraordinary, and "an assault not seen since World War II", Donald Trump surprised many by making Venezuela's oil the focus of his press conference on Saturday.

- Tiago Rogero

The US president made little mention of the so-called war on drugs that for months had been his main justification for the military buildup and the strikes on boats that have killed 116 people, instead referring to oil more than a dozen times, even when questions made no reference to it.

Trump's insistence ended up reinforcing a claim repeatedly made by Venezuela since the escalation began: that he was ultimately seeking to topple Maduro and seize the country's vast natural reserves. As he did weeks earlier when announcing a "total blockade" of oil tankers, Trump said Venezuela had "stolen" oil from the US and that it would now be taken back.

"We built Venezuela's oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us during those previous administrations. And they stole it through force. This constituted one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country," Trump said, echoing almost word for word a post on X by his homeland security adviser, Stephen Miller, in mid-December.