President Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that he plans to visit Venezuela, a trip that would make him the first sitting American president to travel to the country since Bill Clinton met with President Rafael Caldera in Caracas nearly three decades ago (Oct.1997). Trump offered no timeline. "I'm going to make a visit to Venezuela," he said. "We haven't decided" when.

The announcement came as Trump departed for Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he met with soldiers who participated in the January 3 raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. It also followed a week of accelerating U.S. engagement with Venezuela's interim government, including the first cabinet-level visit to Caracas since Maduro's removal and a significant easing of oil sanctions.

Trump described the U.S. relationship with Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, in glowing terms. "The relationship we have right now with Venezuela — it's, I would say, a 10," he told reporters. "We have a very good relationship with the president of Venezuela. As you know, we're working together very closely."

Asked whether he would formally recognize Rodriguez as the country's leader, Trump said, "Yeah, we have done that. We are dealing with them, and really, right now, they've done a great job." The White House did not immediately clarify whether the official U.S. stance toward Rodriguez's government had changed. Administration officials in recent weeks had described her role as that of an interim leader rather than a recognized head of state.

Rodriguez herself has struck a more complicated tone. In an interview with NBC News this week, she called Maduro "the legitimate president" of Venezuela while simultaneously expressing willingness to cooperate with Washington. "I have been invited to the States," Rodriguez said. "We're contemplating coming there once we establish this cooperation, and we can move forward with everything."

Energy secretary's visit opens the door

Trump's announcement capped a week in which Energy Secretary Chris Wright became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Venezuela since Maduro's capture. Wright met with Rodriguez at the Miraflores presidential palace on Wednesday and toured oil production operations on Thursday.

Wright described the visit as the effective end of the U.S. oil embargo on Venezuela, which had been in place since 2019. "The embargo is essentially over," he said, adding that Venezuelan oil sales since Maduro's removal had already reached $1 billion and were projected to hit $5 billion in the coming months.

The energy secretary also disclosed a shift in how those revenues are being handled. Oil proceeds that had previously been deposited into an account in Qatar controlled by the U.S. government are now being routed directly to a U.S. Treasury account. "The money won't go to Qatar anymore," Wright told NBC News.

Wright said the U.S. would "control the sale of their oil and the flow of their funds until a representative government is set up in Venezuela," with Trump holding final authority over how money is released to Venezuelan authorities. All disbursements will be subject to audit.

Rodriguez's government has moved quickly to satisfy Washington's demands. Within weeks of assuming power, she pushed through changes to Venezuela's hydrocarbon law that ended PDVSA's monopoly over oil production, sales, and pricing — opening the state-controlled energy sector to private and foreign investment for the first time in decades. Wright called the reform "a meaningful step in the right direction" but said it was "probably not far and clear enough to encourage the kind of large capital flows" the U.S. wants to see.

Treasury lifts sanctions on major oil companies

Hours after Trump's announcement on Friday, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued two general licenses representing the most significant rollback of Venezuela sanctions since Maduro's removal.

The first license authorizes BP, Chevron, Eni, Shell, and Repsol to resume oil and gas operations in Venezuela. All five companies already maintain offices in the country and are among the primary partners of PDVSA. Chevron is the only U.S. company that remained in Venezuela after ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips departed years ago.

The second license allows foreign companies to begin negotiating new investment contracts with PDVSA, though any deals would require separate approval from OFAC. Both licenses bar participation by China, Iran, Russia, or entities owned by nationals of those countries.

"These general licenses invite American and other aligned companies to play a constructive role in supporting economic recovery and responsible investment," the Treasury said in a statement characterizing the move as part of Trump's commitment to "rapidly" reopen Venezuela's oil industry.

Chevron welcomed the action. "The new General Licenses, coupled with recent changes in Venezuela's Hydrocarbons Law, are important steps toward enabling the further development of Venezuela's resources for its people and for advancing regional energy security," a company spokesperson said. Chevron CEO Mike Wirth had said in late January that the company could increase Venezuelan production by up to 50 percent over the next 18 to 24 months with proper authorization.

Separately, American Airlines filed with the U.S. Transportation Department on Friday seeking approval to resume flights between Miami and both Caracas and Maracaibo through its regional carrier Envoy. The filing came after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy rescinded a 2019 order that had barred U.S. airlines from flying to Venezuela. If approved, it would mark American Airlines' first service to the country in more than six years.

The Fort Bragg visit

Trump traveled to Fort Bragg on Friday afternoon to meet with military families and soldiers involved in the January 3 operation that removed Maduro from power. The raid, known internally as Operation Absolute Resolve, involved approximately 200 U.S. special forces personnel who attacked the presidential palace in Caracas in the early morning hours.

Venezuela's defense ministry has said 47 Venezuelan and 32 Cuban soldiers were killed in the attack. Seven U.S. forces were injured; none were killed.

"That night, the entire world saw what the full military might of the U.S. military is capable of," Trump told the crowd. "It was so precise, so incredible." He described the forces involved as "some of our greatest soldiers to ever live" and said he planned to award a Medal of Honor to one participant.

Trump also referenced a classified weapon he has nicknamed "the Discombobulator," which he has previously credited with neutralizing Russian and Chinese defense equipment during the operation. "They never got their rockets off," Trump said. "They had Russian and Chinese rockets, and they never got one off. We came in, they pressed buttons, and nothing worked."

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are being held in a New York City jail awaiting trial on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges.

Venezuela's oil potential and the road ahead

Venezuela sits atop the world's largest commercially viable oil reserves, estimated at roughly 300 billion barrels — approximately one-fifth of the global total. But production has collapsed from 3 million barrels per day 25 years ago to about 1.2 million in 2025, itself a recovery from a historic low of roughly 360,000 barrels per day in 2020. Decades of mismanagement under Hugo Chavez and Maduro, combined with deteriorating infrastructure and the nationalization of foreign assets, drove much of the decline.

Trump has said he is seeking $100 billion in foreign investment to rebuild Venezuela's energy sector and has suggested the federal government would reimburse firms for reconstruction costs. Wright said this week that the administration wants to see "a dramatic increase in Venezuelan oil production, in Venezuelan natural gas production, in Venezuelan electricity production."

The State Department also announced Friday that it has sent more than six tons of medical supplies to Venezuela to help stabilize the country.

UN experts have criticized U.S. influence over Venezuela's natural resources as a potential violation of citizens' right to self-determination. Legal experts have separately described the January 3 operation as a violation of international law and Venezuelan sovereignty, regardless of Washington's view of Maduro's legitimacy following disputed elections in 2024.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who gifted Trump her Nobel Peace Prize on January 15 in an apparent bid to press for democratic elections, has not been offered a role in the post-Maduro government. Trump has dismissed her as lacking the widespread support needed to lead, and his administration has shown no urgency to push for elections — instead focusing on oil production and economic cooperation with Rodriguez's interim government.