Reed Statement on Pentagon Investment in Venezuela Oil Venture

WASHINGTON, DC —Today, following reports that President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have directed the Department of Defense to take a 35 percent stake in a private equity firm engaging in preferential purchase rights of Venezuelan oil production, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued the following statement: “President Trump’s effort to turn the U.S. military into an investor in Venezuelan oil is a blatant abuse of power and taxpayer dollars. Our military exists to protect the American people and defend our national security, but it appears the Trump administration has decided that mission no longer applies when there is oil to be seized and money to be made. “Let’s be clear about what is happening. President Trump has been explicit about his desire to extract Venezuela’s oil. His administration removed Nicolás Maduro from power, threw its weight behind the unelected leadership that replaced Maduro, and is now attempting to use U.S. military assets and taxpayer-backed financing to boost a private oil venture. Using the Pentagon as an instrument to finance foreign oil projects invokes the exact corruption and conflicts of interest our laws are designed to prevent. “I am demanding a full accounting of the legal authority for this transaction, the complete financial terms, the disposition of any profits, the role of the Department of Defense in managing or overseeing the investment, and—most importantly—whether the administration is planning to use American military forces to secure the oil assets which the Department itself now has a financial interest. “President Trump is abusing his powers as commander-in-chief and eroding the military’s proper role in American democracy. This misguided experiment in using America’s armed forces for commercial profit must be rejected.”