Trump warns Venezuela of second strike if cooperation fails
Oil prices dipped slightly on Monday as President Donald Trump threatened another military operation against Venezuela while his administration tightened a petroleum embargo aimed at forcing sweeping changes in the South American nation. Brent crude fell 1.4 percent to settle at $59.91 per barrel, with West Texas Intermediate declining to $56.56, as markets weighed fallout from the weekend capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro against global supply glut concerns. Trump told reporters Sunday he could order a follow-up strike if Venezuela's interim government resists U.S. efforts to overhaul its oil industry and curb drug trafficking.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed the U.S. would maintain what he termed an oil "quarantine" on sanctioned Venezuelan tankers, sustaining pressure post-Maduro. "This blockade stays until we see changes advancing not just U.S. national interests our top priority but a better future for the Venezuelan people," Rubio said on CBS's "Face the Nation." The embargo, ordered by Trump mid-December, empowers U.S. forces to seize sanctioned vessels entering or leaving Venezuela. Rubio told NBC's "Meet the Press" a substantial U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean one of modern history's largest deployments would enforce the near-blockade. He stressed Venezuela's state-controlled oil sector needs foreign investment under strict guarantees, with American firms playing a central role.
Interim President Delcy Rodríguez, who took power after Venezuela's Supreme Court invoked constitutional provisions following Maduro's capture, shifted toward cooperation with Washington. After initially decrying the U.S. operation as "an atrocity violating international law" on Saturday, she extended an invitation Sunday for joint work on a cooperation agenda.
Trump cautioned Rodríguez would "pay a very high price, probably higher than Maduro" without providing "full access" to oil facilities and infrastructure. Market analysts forecast Venezuelan output could rise from current 800,000 barrels per day to 1.3-2.5 million over two to ten years with infrastructure upgrades and foreign investment, though Goldman Sachs held 2026 price forecasts steady at $56 per barrel for Brent and $52 for West Texas Intermediate.
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