In a striking public statement, former US President Donald Trump has articulated ambitions for Venezuela that analysts have long suspected, moving beyond official anti-narcotics justifications to explicitly cite regime change and oil interests.
The 'Armada' and the Unspoken Mission
In a social media post on Tuesday evening, 17 December 2025, Trump declared that "Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America." He warned the build-up would continue, promising a shock "like nothing they have ever seen before."
This references a substantial and long-standing US naval and air force presence in the Caribbean, stationed off the Venezuelan coast for several months. Publicly, this deployment has been framed as part of an anti-drug mission, targeting narcotics trafficking from Venezuela into the United States. Military actions, including missile and drone strikes on vessels suspected of drug running, have been conducted under this banner.
From Drugs to Oil: The Real Aims Laid Bare
The second part of Trump's post, however, shifted the narrative dramatically. He stated the military would remain "until such time as they [Venezuela] return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."
He directly accused the "illegitimate Maduro Regime" of using oil from "stolen Oil Fields" to finance itself, drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping. This rhetoric confirms a pivot in focus from narcotics to hydrocarbons and political control.
The historical context is crucial. For decades, the US was a major importer of Venezuelan crude. American firms extracted the oil, and specialised refineries on the Texas coast were adapted to process Venezuela's heavy crude. This lucrative arrangement ended in the 2000s when the late President Hugo Chávez nationalised the country's oil industry, seizing foreign assets.
A Threefold Ambition for Hemispheric Control
With this candid social media post, Trump has effectively voiced a three-pronged strategy for Venezuela and, by extension, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.
The ultimate goals now appear clear:
- To remove the government of Nicolás Maduro and install a US-friendly administration in Caracas.
- To regain control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves, likely through enforced commercial partnerships rather than direct seizure.
- To halt the flow of illegal drugs and human trafficking from Venezuela into the United States.
By stating these aims openly, Trump has moved the geopolitical crisis into a new, more transparent, and potentially more volatile phase. The situation underscores a determined push to reassert American influence and secure economic interests, setting the stage for significant developments in the coming days and weeks.
