Stephen Miller, president Trump’s White House Deputy Chief of Staff, endorsed the president’s claims that Venezuela‘s oil nationalization constituted a massive theft from the United States, arguing that the expropriation of U.S. energy assets helped finance criminal and terrorist activity tied to the Maduro regime.
In a post on X, Miller said that “American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela,” adding that its “tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property.” He claimed the assets taken during Venezuela’s nationalization of the oil sector were later used “to fund terrorism and flood our streets with killers, mercenaries and drugs.”
American sweat, ingenuity and toil created the oil industry in Venezuela. Its tyrannical expropriation was the largest recorded theft of American wealth and property. These pillaged assets were then used to fund terrorism and flood our streets with killers, mercenaries and drugs. https://t.co/SXCAjcsFiF
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) December 17, 2025
Miller’s remarks echoed Trump’s Truth Social post in which he said the Venezuelan government was using oil from “stolen oil fields” to finance narcotrafficking, human trafficking, terrorism, murder and kidnapping. Trump also said he had ordered a “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela and reiterated his assertion that Caracas must “return” oil, land and other assets he said were taken from the United States.
The comments revive a long-running U.S. grievance tied to Venezuela’s oil nationalization under former president Hugo Chávez, as NTN24 points out. In 2007 and 2008, Chávez forced foreign energy companies to renegotiate contracts to give the state oil company PDVSA majority control of major projects, particularly in the Orinoco Belt. ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips rejected the new terms and saw their assets expropriated, while other firms, including Chevron, accepted minority stakes under PDVSA control.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro rejected Trump’s statements on Wednesday, calling the blockade threat “grotesque” and “absolutely irrational.”
In a government statement, Caracas accused Washington of violating international law and said Trump was seeking to impose a naval blockade to seize Venezuela’s resources. Maduro said Venezuela “will never again be a colony of any empire or foreign power” and announced that its ambassador to the United Nations would file a formal complaint against the United States.
Miller’s public alignment with Trump’s rhetoric comes amid his expanded role in shaping U.S. policy toward Venezuela. Since the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean, Miller has been a central figure in directing operations and advancing the administration’s argument that Venezuela is effectively run by criminal organizations, a position he has used to defend both military actions and deportation policies.
Originally published on Latin Times
