What is Trump's endgame with Venezuela?

[herding cats]

He's blowing up their boats, when they're most definitely not a huge exporter of drugs to the USA, let alone via maritime means.

Apparently he's planning, or at least insinuating, the CIA is involved in "covert" mission which will enable them to carry out lethal operations in Venezuela.

Now he's saying boots on the ground there is a possibility?!

Venezuela escalation: President Trump said he was considering expanding his military operations in the Caribbean to include ground strikes in Venezuela, which would be a significant escalation of the campaign that has so far targeted vessels at sea. The Trump administration has said, without evidence, that those strikes had hit boats transporting drugs for cartels. “We are certainly looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10/15/us/trump-shutdown-news?unlocked_article_code=1.t08.nMyi.tIdbY6haaaPd&smid=url-share

I'm hoping somone can explain to me what the hell all this lunacy is about? Beyond just regime change there I mean. Is this meant as a slight to one of their allies or is there some other archaic 1950's level stupidity going on here?

[lame54]

1. Oil

[herding cats]

8. I don't think that's just it anymore.

Trump and Maduro, two people who speak each others language put those notions to bed.

Venezuela’s Maduro Offered the U.S. His Nation’s Riches to Avoid Conflict

Venezuela’s autocrat had proposed allocating his country’s oil wealth and other natural resources to the U.S. and ending deals with American adversaries to appease President Trump

Venezuelan officials, hoping to end their country’s clash with the United States, offered the Trump administration a dominant stake in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in discussions that lasted for months, according to multiple people close to the talks.

The far-reaching offer remained on the table as the Trump administration called the government of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela a “narco-terror cartel,” amassed warships in the Caribbean and began blowing up boats that American officials say were carrying drugs from Venezuela.

Under a deal discussed between a senior U.S. official and Mr. Maduro’s top aides, the Venezuelan strongman offered to open up all existing and future oil and gold projects to American companies, give preferential contracts to American businesses, reverse the flow of Venezuelan oil exports from China to the United States, and slash his country’s energy and mining contracts with Chinese, Iranian and Russian firms.

The Trump administration ended up rebuffing Mr. Maduro’s economic concessions and cut off diplomacy with Venezuela last week. The move effectively killed the deal, at least for now, the people close to the discussion said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/world/americas/maduro-venezuela-us-oil.html

[RockRaven]

2. There is no end game. He needs a bogeyman. This one will do, and if it ceases to do

he will find a different one.

[Ocelot II]

3. Oil. Venezuela could be Iraq redux.

https://www.ft.com/content/03cb69bf-2c55-497d-ad07-2ca40ec6bfcd

[herding cats]

5. This was my thoughts but not so much now.

Maduro literally tried to hand their oil assets over to Trump to avoid whatever in the he'll is currently taking place now.

Venezuela’s Maduro Offered the U.S. His Nation’s Riches to Avoid Conflict

Venezuela’s autocrat had proposed allocating his country’s oil wealth and other natural resources to the U.S. and ending deals with American adversaries to appease President Trump.

Venezuelan officials, hoping to end their country’s clash with the United States, offered the Trump administration a dominant stake in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in discussions that lasted for months, according to multiple people close to the talks.

The far-reaching offer remained on the table as the Trump administration called the government of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela a “narco-terror cartel,” amassed warships in the Caribbean and began blowing up boats that American officials say were carrying drugs from Venezuela.

Under a deal discussed between a senior U.S. official and Mr. Maduro’s top aides, the Venezuelan strongman offered to open up all existing and future oil and gold projects to American companies, give preferential contracts to American businesses, reverse the flow of Venezuelan oil exports from China to the United States, and slash his country’s energy and mining contracts with Chinese, Iranian and Russian firms.

The Trump administration ended up rebuffing Mr. Maduro’s economic concessions and cut off diplomacy with Venezuela last week. The move effectively killed the deal, at least for now, the people close to the discussion said.

Now I'm just confused what's going on there.

[Ocelot II]

12. There were conditions on the offer.

Unseating Maduro would ensure that US oil companies, not Venezuela, would have total control over production. They wanted more than just a stake in it.

[herding cats]

14. Yes, I could expect such.

However, there's zero chance we're going to turn a country in South America into our oil slave. Look how much China invested into them, I think it was like $10 billion? All they got for their monies was a minor prick in the butt of the US. We can't control, let alone police a nation such as they are for an increasingly outdated goal of fossil fuel dominance. Or am I missing something here?

[Ocelot II]

16. That could very well be, but I keep thinking about the Bush admin's designs on Iraq -

regime change for oil.

[herding cats]

17. Oh, I'm definitely not dismissing such!

Trump is literally trying to bring his glory days of old back. Such as racism, sexism. Homophobia, etc. why nor some war for oil,
I know his family is deeply involved with the Saudi regime. While I don't see it I do wonder if there's some connection there? Venezuela has been traditionally involved with Russia, China, Turkey, Iran and Cuba to date. Maybe it's about marginalizing them? I don't know. Something is off.

[Turbineguy]

4. End game?

Distraction from Epstein files. Venezuela until he thinks up something new. Venezuela actually has terrible oil. It's very high in sulfur and very thick.

[herding cats]

6. Yes, it's expensive to refine.

It requires special refineries calibrated for their specific type of oil and it's expensive to set them up and refine the oil. Or so I was told by people in the industry.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

7. Exactly right it's about the Epstein files,

he's desperately trying to distract from it which indicates, to me at least, his name is all over those files along with other prominent repigs.

[herding cats]

11. I'm most definitely not disagreeing here, but this has been going on for months there.

Granted it's escalated recently to this insane level, which does give some credence to such thoughts.

[Ocelot II]

13. Relations with Venezuela have been problematic since long before the Epstein files

became an issue - certainly beginning in 1999 when Chavez took office. That was years before Epstein was prosecuted the first time.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

15. That's quite true, but not this problematic,

it's gotten worse lately, coinciding with the upswing in demand for the release of those files.
It may not be the only reason, but IMHO, it has a lot to do with it.
Just my opinion of course.

[Ocelot II]

9. Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves.

It's heavy crude and needs specialized refining but that doesn't mean it lacks value. Here's an interesting article about Venezuela as a (possibly failed) petrostate. Venezuela is a mess. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis

[usonian]

10. Distraction. Everything is.

[LastDemocratInSC]

18. To make it the 52nd state after Canada.