According to The Daily Mail, Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Florida Republican who represents parts of Miami-Dade County, posted a critical message about President Donald Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela on Saturday evening. She wrote the message on her official government X account. Salazar said, “Any oil ‘deal’ with Venezuela’s interim regime has an expiration date: the day President Trump leaves the White House.”
In the same post, she said Venezuela’s leader was “buying time.” She also said they have “stolen American investments” and that there will be “no lasting deal” without democracy. The Daily Mail reported that Salazar has been a vocal critic of Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
About an hour later, the posts on her official account were taken down. Salazar then posted a different message on her personal political account. The new post described the agreement in more positive terms.
Salazar later called the oil deal a great deal for the United States
On her personal account, Salazar wrote, “The U.S.-Venezuela oil deal is a great deal for the United States and the Venezuelan people.” She continued, “For years, China took advantage of Venezuela’s weakness to buy its oil at deep discounts. Now America is stepping in, and American investment and influence offer Venezuela a path toward prosperity, stability, and security.”
She added, “Delcy is the wrong person to make this deal with.” The Daily Mail stated that Salazar’s representatives were contacted for comment on the different messages. The outlet also said it reached out to her office for comment.
President Trump announced Friday that he had landed the “biggest oil deal in world history” following a deal with Venezuela. He said he had secured control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in a move he said will slash gas prices for ordinary Americans.
Trump credited Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth with brokering the deal with Interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
On Truth Social on Friday, Trump said, “This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity.”
He also said the deal came at “no cost to the American taxpayer.” Trump added, “This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States!”
On Sunday morning, Trump noted, “One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuelan Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves which, because of Sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually emptied.”
The Daily Mail reported that the deal was made alongside private businesses. Axios reported that those businesses include American oil firms. The agreement is the second Trump has made with the new Venezuelan government since he captured former president Nicolas Maduro in January during Operation Absolute Resolve, the report stated.
Trump had earlier said American companies would quickly restore the sector, but no deals were finalized months later. In the days after Maduro’s removal in January, Trump floated the idea of U.S. oil companies returning to Venezuela to tap its oil reserves.
Trump has argued that Venezuela stole U.S. oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies. He has also said the United States seized Venezuelan oil revenue and threatened Iran.
Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground. The reserves are equivalent to about 17 percent of the world’s supply, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Published: Aug 31, 2026 01:00 pm