U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from members of the media during a gathering with lipid and state executives successful the East Room of the White House connected Jan. 9, 2026 successful Washington, DC.
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U.S. President Donald Trump connected Friday signed an enforcement bid that aims to artifact the seizure of Venezuelan lipid gross held successful U.S. Treasury accounts.
The executive order states that the revenue, which is held successful overseas authorities deposit funds, are "held solely for sovereign purposes" and that immoderate tribunal effort to prehend the funds volition "materially harm the nationalist information and overseas policy" of the U.S.
The order, which declared a nationalist emergency, said the funds are the sovereign spot of Venezuela held successful U.S. custody for governmental and diplomatic means, and are not assets taxable to backstage claims. Any usage of judicial process against the funds volition interfere with efforts to "ensure economical and governmental stableness successful Venezuela," the bid says.
Trump signed the bid astir 1 week aft U.S. subject forces captured Venezuelan person Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, successful Caracas. Both were indicted on drug-trafficking charges and person pleaded not guilty.
Since the subject operation, Trump has said that some nations "are moving good together" connected rebuilding Venezuela's lipid and state infrastructure and that American lipid giants will put astatine slightest $100 billion successful the South American country.
Trump met with large lipid manufacture executives on Friday day successful an effort to get U.S. lipid companies to put successful Venezuela. In that meeting, ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told Trump that close present Venezuela is "uninvestable."
ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil exited Venezuela aft its government, nether President Hugo Chávez, nationalized the country's lipid assemblage on with respective different cardinal industries. Both companies person filed arbitration cases against Venezuela seeking billions of dollars successful compensation for assets that were expropriated by the government.
Chevron is the lone major U.S. oil institution presently operating successful Venezuela done a peculiar licence issued by the Trump administration.
In his Friday order, Trump cited the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the 1976 National Emergencies Act arsenic ineligible justification for safeguarding Venezuelan lipid gross successful U.S. accounts.
The White House did not instantly respond to a CNBC petition for comment.
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