Merve Aydogan
11 November 2026•Update: 11 November 2026
President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that Venezuelan oil revenues will reach “hundreds of billions very soon,” and that the US recouped the cost of its operation in the country “many, many times over.”
“In our case, we had Venezuela, where we’re taking out billions and billions of dollars of oil and all sorts of other things, be hundreds of billions very soon. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it, and we paid for the cost of the war many, many times over already,” Trump said at the 2026 National Veterans Day Ceremony.
“To the victor belong the spoils, they used to say, but you can say it again with us under this leadership,” he added.
Trump said “millions of barrels of oil” are coming out of Venezuela on a weekly basis, bringing in “billions and billions of dollars.”
He claimed that China and Russia left Venezuela at his request. “They were all nibbling at the edges. Said, ‘You got to leave.’ They left, but we didn’t leave,” he said.
Turning to veterans, Trump said: “When the battle ends, our commitment to those who serve is only just beginning.”
Trump also referred to Iran, saying the US stopped Tehran from having a nuclear weapon.