Donald Trump had a message for fossil-fuel companies on Friday: Venezuela is now \u201copen for business\u201d as the US president vowed the country\u2019s resources would be extracted for the benefit of the US, oil companies \u2013 and \u201csome\u201d money for Venezuelans.<\/p>\n
At a roundtable press conference at the White House with more than a dozen oil<\/a> executives, including leaders from Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, the US president doubled down on claims that Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s arrest presents American oil companies with an unprecedented opportunity for extraction.<\/p>\n In brief remarks, oil executives \u2013 for many, the first public statements since Maduro\u2019s capture \u2013 expressed willingness to rebuild Venezuela\u2019s oil infrastructure with the US government\u2019s reassurances. Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves are reputedly the world\u2019s largest.<\/p>\n History from the past two decades has shown that foreign intervention can have an impact on a country\u2019s oil output, but with mixed and unstable<\/a> results.<\/p>\n Trump promises oil companies \u2018total safety\u2019 in Venezuela as he urges them to invest billions<\/p>\n While Venezuela\u2019s oil industry experienced a boom in the late 90s and early 2000s, the then Venezuelan president, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, reasserted state control over the industry in the mid-2000s. In the years since, oil production in the country has fallen drastically as its infrastructure has aged and investment dried up.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be extracting numbers in terms of oil like few people have seen,\u201d Trump said on Friday, emphasizing that the US stands to benefit from lower energy prices. \u201cVenezuela is going to be very successful, and the people of the United States are going to be big beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Trump threatens to intervene in Greenland \u2018whether they like it or not\u2019<\/p>\n Speaking at a meeting with oil and gas executives at the White House, the US president justified his comments by saying: \u201cIf we don\u2019t do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland<\/a>. And we\u2019re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cSo we\u2019re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Minneapolis mayor accuses federal authorities of \u2018hiding facts\u2019 in ICE killing<\/p>\n Jacob Frey, the Minnesota city\u2019s Democratic mayor, criticized the Trump administration, speaking at a press conference two days after the Renee Nicole Good was killed in her car in a confrontation with federal officers amid protests and community scrutiny during an immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n Donald Trump, JD Vance and Kristi Noem, the secretary at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent agency of ICE, swiftly accused<\/a> Good of engaging in \u201cdomestic terrorism\u201d, without providing evidence and before the official investigation was fully under way.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n US forces seize another tanker in effort to control Venezuelan oil<\/p>\n US forces were seen in video footage that officials posted online landing on the ship\u2019s deck as the vessel named Olina was seized in the Caribbean<\/a> near Trinidad<\/a>. It is the fifth interdiction of such ships in recent weeks, separately from the series of previous US operations since the start of the fall to strike suspected drug boats<\/a> off the coast of Venezuela.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Doge cuts cost US taxpayers $10bn<\/p>\n The Trump administration<\/a> \u201cwasted\u201d $10bn on paid leave<\/a>, or paying workers to stay home, as part of the \u201cdepartment of government efficiency\u2019s\u201d assault on the federal workforce, a new analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) estimates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n Washington National Opera to move out of Kennedy Center after Trump \u2018takeover\u2019<\/p>\n The Washington National Opera<\/a> (WNO) announced on Friday it is moving its performances out of the John F Kennedy Center, in what could be one of the most significant departures from the institution since Trump took control of it.<\/p>\n Read the full story<\/a><\/p>\n What else happened today:<\/p>\n