President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States has taken in more than $13 billion from Venezuelan oil revenue. He made the comments to a reporter aboard Air Force One. Trump also said the same approach could be applied to Iran, reports Truthout.
According to a Financial Times report published late last week, the U.S. has placed roughly $13 billion of Venezuela’s oil revenue into a U.S. Treasury account. This has been happening since the Trump administration’s operation in Venezuela in January, which the report described as a likely illegal coup.
The Financial Times reported that the administration has said very little about how the seized funds are being used, beyond claiming the money is going toward helping the Venezuelan government. The report also said there are few signs the money is being used to help Venezuela’s economy, which was also hit by two major earthquakes last month, an indication that the U.S. has not sent all the oil revenue back to Caracas.
Trump links the seized funds to the cost of a January military operation
When a reporter asked Trump where the seized Venezuelan funds have gone, he did not give a direct answer. He indicated, however, that some of the money has gone toward reimbursing the U.S. for a military strike carried out on January 3.
During that operation, U.S. forces captured then-President Nicolás Maduro and killed dozens of people, prior reporting has shown. Trump has viewed the Venezuela operation as a model for confronting Iran’s government, a separate report says.
“Venezuela, we paid for that war many times over, and that’ll happen with Iran also,” Trump said. Trump did not specify what future action against Iran might involve. He also did not clarify how much money, if any, has already been taken from Iran.
When pressed again by the reporter about where the Venezuelan funds have gone, Trump repeated that the money is being used for “running the country.” He did not specify which country he was referring to. He also said Congress would need to approve legislation before the funds could be redirected to the U.S. military.
“It can’t go to the military, Congress has to approve it. Congress doesn’t like approving money for the military, they like giving it to things that shouldn’t be done. But we’re taking in a lot of money, billions and billions of dollars from Venezuela,” Trump said. “That’ll be done to Iran, too.”
Trump administration officials have previously stated that the U.S. is using Venezuela’s oil revenue to fund the country’s government, though some people within Venezuela dispute this claim. In a February interview with NBC, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Trump has “final say” over what funding is allowed to flow back into Venezuela.
“The largest revenue source that funds the government … is now controlled by the United States,” Wright told NBC at the time. “If they’re driving positive change that benefits Americans and is improving the life opportunities of people in Venezuela, that money will flow. If they steer off that path, we have, just simply, tremendous leverage.”
Trump also said on Monday that the U.S. may use any funds seized from Iran to cover damages the country allegedly caused to American assets during the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran. He did not specify which assets he was referring to or provide a dollar estimate. “We’re going to use Iran’s money to pay for the damage they did. The Iran money that we control,” Trump said.
Trump did not clarify in his Monday remarks how much money, if any, the U.S. currently holds from Iran, or through what mechanism such funds might have been obtained. Trump’s comments on Iranian oil money follow separate reporting on how the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has affected Iran’s ability to export oil. He also did not respond to further questions about the total amount taken from Venezuela beyond his initial estimate.
The Financial Times report noted that the Trump administration has offered limited public accounting of the Venezuelan funds since the January operation. Neither the White House nor the Treasury Department has released a detailed breakdown of how the money has been spent, the outlet said.
Published: Jul 28, 2026 11:01 am