“Reclaim the Oil”: Trump’s War for What Was Never Ours

From nationalization in 1976 to naval strikes in 2025, this war was written by corporate lobbyists and funded with our silence.

On December 16, 2025, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States intends to “reclaim the oil” Venezuela supposedly “took from us.” There was no mention of humanitarian concerns, no appeals to democracy, or even to national security. There wasn’t even any narrative scaffolding—just oil and vengeance.

There are no noble justifications, no p…