Trump said that Congress should approve legislation to allow Venezuela’s funds to be rerouted to the US military.
By Sharon Zhang , Truthout, July 27, 2026
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President Donald Trump claimed that the U.S. has seized over $13 billion in oil revenues from Venezuela and is using it for “running the country” in remarks on Monday in which he threatened to do the same to Iran.
Late last week, the Financial Times estimated that the U.S. has put roughly $13 billion of Venezuela’s oil revenues into a reported U.S. Treasury account ever since the Trump administration’s likely illegal coup operation in Venezuela in January. The report pointed out that the administration has said very little about the money it’s seized thus far, outside of claiming that it is being spent on helping the government.
The report also said that there are very few indications that it’s being spent to boost the ailing economy in Venezuela, which also suffered two devastating earthquakes last month, “a potential sign that the US has not sent all the revenues back to Caracas.”
Answering a question from a reporter on Air Force One on Monday, Trump claimed that the U.S. has actually seized more than $13 billion, and was tight-lipped in answering where the funds have gone. He suggested, however, that some of the revenues have gone toward paying the U.S. back for the strike operation on January 3 in which the U.S. abducted then-President Nicolás Maduro and killed dozens.
“Venezuela, we paid for that war many times over, and that’ll happen with Iran also,” Trump said.
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When pressed again on where the money has gone, Trump repeatedly said it’s going toward “running the country.” However, he suggested that Congress should pass legislation to allow the funds to be rerouted 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,” he said. “That’ll be done to Iran, too.”
Trump administration officials have previously said that the U.S. is using Venezuela’s money to fund the country, an account that some within the country have disputed. In an interview with NBC in February, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that Trump has “final say” over what funding is allowed to go back into Venezuela.
“The largest revenue source that funds the government … is now controlled by the United States,” Wright said 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.”
Meanwhile, Trump also threatened to use any potential funds seized from Iran to pay for damages that the country has done to American assets amid the U.S.-Israeli war on the country.
“We’re going to use Iran’s money to pay for the damage they did. The Iran money that we control,” he said.
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