'Trump's admitting it': Resurfaced video reveals president's pre-election Venezuela goal

Before the 2024 election, Donald Trump made comments about Venezuela that are now being resurfaced after the president announced a successful mission to "capture" the nation's leader and his wife.

Ret. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling is among those who have been critical of the Trump administration's decisions surrounding Venezuela. Trump declared he plans to have the U.S. take control over the country, as opposed to letting the nation's constitution do its job, and didn't rule out having U.S. boots on the ground.

Trump's reasoning for the mission has publicly been connected to drug trafficking allegations, but a video being shared from a GOP convention in North Carolina shows Trump previously had other motives on mind.

"How about we're buying oil from Venezuela? When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse," Trump said in 2023 at the North Carolina Republican Convention. "We would have taken it over. We would have gotten all that oil. It would have been right next door. But now, we're buying oil from Venezuela. So, we're making a dictator very rich. Can you believe this? Nobody can believe it."

A popular influencer known as Not The Torygraph posted the video, and wrote that, "Trump’s admitting that it’s all about capturing Venezuelan oil."

A "radical centrist" known as Maine actually flagged the pre-election comments in October, when there was a buildup of naval units.

"REMINDER: During the 2024 campaign, Trump told audience in North Carolina that he wants Venezuela to collapse so he can take all of the oil. Now: Trump amassing naval assets and 10,000 troops in Caribbean and recently admitted CIA has been operating on ground in Venezuela."

Matthew Capon, formerly a senior video journalist at the Daily Mirror, also flagged the 2023 video this weekend.

"Donald Trump speaking at the North Carolina Republican State Convention 10th June 2023 remarks on Venezuela," he wrote, quoting Trump as saying, "We would have taken it over, we would have gotten all that oil, it would have been right next door..."