US President Donald Trump said the US could remain in Iran after the war and “keep the oil”, drawing a comparison with a US-backed arrangement in Venezuela
Trump suggested that Washington’s involvement in Iran could extend beyond the war itself if the US secured longer-term economic benefits
The remarks expand the publicly discussed aims of the conflict from ending Iran’s military threat to potentially securing a lasting US economic role in the country
US President Donald Trump has suggested that the United States could remain in Iran after the war and “keep the oil”, drawing a parallel with the Trump administration’s recently announced oil arrangement in Venezuela.
Speaking during the Irish Open golf championship in Doonbeg on Sunday, Trump said he expected the Iran war to end later this year, potentially after the US midterm elections in November. But he also raised the possibility of a longer-term US presence in Iran if Washington could secure economic benefits from the country’s oil resources.
“We’ll ultimately get out of Iran, unless we decide to stay and keep the oil like Venezuela,” Trump said, according to Reuters. He also claimed that US revenue from Venezuela had already “paid for the war many times”.
Venezuela Comparison
Trump’s remarks came days after the White House announced what it described as the “biggest oil deal in world history” in Venezuela.
Under the arrangement, Venezuelan interim authorities have granted North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP) 100-year concessions covering 17 oil fields with about 65 billion barrels of proven reserves. The White House says the US government will receive governance rights, economic ownership and guaranteed low-cost off-take from the private company.
The administration says the agreement will bring Venezuelan crude into US refineries, increase American investment in Venezuela’s energy sector and help lower fuel prices in the US. It has framed the deal as part of a broader plan involving Venezuela’s stabilisation, economic recovery and eventual democratic transition.
Trump’s comments suggest he sees the Venezuelan arrangement as a possible model for extracting economic benefits from countries where the US has intervened militarily.
Iran War
Trump has continued to say that Washington wants an end to the conflict with Iran, while insisting that any settlement must be favourable to the United States.
Reuters reported that he said Iran was repeatedly seeking peace talks, a claim Tehran has previously rejected. Trump also said gasoline prices would fall sharply once the war ended.
The comments come amid continued disruption in global energy markets linked to the Middle East conflict. Oil prices have faced renewed upward pressure after attacks affecting regional energy infrastructure, including a recent strike on a Saudi oil pipeline.
Trump’s suggestion of retaining a presence in Iran and controlling oil resources marks a significant expansion of the publicly discussed aims of the conflict, moving beyond ending Iran’s military threat to raising the prospect of a longer-term US economic role in the country.
