Trump says 'China is welcome to buy Venezuelan oil' as India makes deal

WASHINGTON DC: US President Donald Trump said China is "welcome" to buy Venezuelan oil and that India had already "made" a deal to buy the oil.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, "China is welcome to come in and make a great deal on oil. We've already made a deal. India is coming in, and they're going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. So, we've already made the concept of the deal."

He repeated the point, adding, "We've already made a deal. India is coming in, and they're going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. We've already made a deal. India is coming in, and they're going, we've already made that deal, the concept of the deal. But China's welcome to come in and buy oil."

The Indian government has not yet responded to Trump's comments.

Earlier, Trump said Venezuela had offered Washington "50 million barrels of oil" worth $5.2 billion, and that he had agreed to the deal. Addressing the press on the renaming of Southern Boulevard to Donald Trump Boulevard, he said, "We're dealing with the new President. We're dealing with a lot of the people who are running the country... They said, we have 50 million barrels of oil, and we have to get it processed immediately because we have no room. Will you take it? I said, we'll take it. It's equivalent to $5.2 billion."

Trump also commended the "great relationship" with the Venezuelan interim government, which he said was formed after the US captured former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a military operation. "We've had a great relationship with the people who are currently the interim president and everybody else. A lot of pressure has been released," he said.

After Maduro's capture, Trump had said Washington would "run" Venezuela during a transition and needed "total access to the oil and to other things in their country."

Trump's comments also confirm a recent report by New York‑based news outlet Semafor that the US has made its first sale of Venezuelan oil valued at $500 million. According to the Semafor report, revenue from the oil sales is currently being held in bank accounts controlled by the US government, as indicated in Friday's order, an administration official said. The main account, according to a second senior administration official, is located in Qatar.

(With input from RSS/ANI)