Call it socialism, imperialism, corruption or theft — senators, conservatives, journalists, former ambassadors and economists all agree President Donald Trump's "deal" to control 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil is a very bad move.
Trump's Truth Social announcement on Friday of a deal with Delcy Rodríguez — who became Venezuela's acting president in January after the U.S. military captured former President Nicolás Maduro — spurred an uproar over cries of corruption.
"Using our troops for a private oil grab is corruption at epic scale," said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA). "Here’s a guarantee—this will pad the pockets of Trump family and Big Oil companies and delay transition to cleaner energy."
Kaine was not the only U.S. senator to condemn Trump's deal with Venezuela — or to claim corruption was the cause.
"This isn't a win," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). "This is proof Trump put our service members at risk to get Venezuelan oil for his billionaire buddies. Putting our soldiers’ lives on the line for private profit is a gross dereliction of his constitutional duty."
Independent journalist Juliet Jeske of Decoding Fox News also looked at the deal from a humanitarian perspective.
"Trump is stealing oil from country that just had a catastrophic earthquake and where most of the populace lives in extreme poverty," Jeske wrote on X. "I don’t think he ever really cared about Maduro. He just wanted their oil."
This perspective was shared by Michael McFaul, a Stanford University professor of political science who served as U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014.
"Delcy Rodriguez is a dictator," McFaul wrote. "Cutting a deal with her to steal Venezuelan oil to benefit Americans is both immoral and impractical. The Venezuelan people will never go along with this deal."
McFaul fumed that Trump had yanked the U.S. back to the 19th century and the age of imperialism.
"We are now acting like a typical imperialist empire," McFaul said. "His Venezuelan oil deal is just that- straight-up imperialism, using military force to seize the assets of a country in the south. Deeply regrettable."
CNN's Jim Acosta echoed this concern — arguing the president had taken the U.S. back to the 1700s — but added a jab at Trump's rising gas-price problems.
"Trump is desperate," Acosta wrote. "Trump is choosing oil over freedom for the Venezuelan people. Experts say this won’t lower gas prices right away."
Even some conservatives fumed at Trump's fuel fix, among them conservative think tank Cato Institute economics expert Scott Lincicome.
"So, after taking 31 US government equity stakes in private companies over the last year, Trump just announced a MAJORITY-STATE-OWNED oil company?" wrote Lincicome. "This isn't even 'creeping' socialism anymore."
Independent journalist Aaron Rupar likened the "deal" to a form of socialism as well — National Socialism.
"Nazi Germany also pillaged the natural resources of countries it conquered," Rupar wrote.