California Rep. Ro Khanna has slammed President Trump’s oil deal with Venezuela, comparing it to colonialism.
His comments come after President Trump announced that the U.S. had entered into a deal with Venezuela to take control of 65 billion barrels of oil reserves.
“This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In an interview with MS NOW’s Chris Hayes, Khanna accused Trump of bringing back a “colonial model” to U.S. foreign policy.
He explained:
[It is] sad to see. It’s like we’ve rolled back the clock 100 years. Yeah, the era of gunboat diplomacy and, you know, the history. So what we did in Guatemala, what we did in El Salvador, what we did in Haiti, but it’s wrong. It’s wrong to have a colonial model of the world. I mean, my grandfather was in jail twice fighting for British independence.
It was FDR who pushed Churchill to decolonize. And I thought America, had stood for decolonization. Trump is rolling it all back because he simply believes in a world where might makes right, where you take what you can.
We need to oppose it on moral grounds. It’s not just that it’s strategically wrong. It’s morally wrong. It’s not what America should be, given our principles.
Khanna has previously denounced the arrest of narcoterrorist and former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro back in January as part of Operation Absolute Resolve.
“My concern is the morality…what is happening in Venezuela is not just procedurally wrong but morally wrong,” he said at the time.
Democrat Ro Khanna believes that the arrest of narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro – who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans – is “morally wrong.”
“My concern is the morality…what is happening in Venezuela is not just procedurally wrong but morally wrong.” pic.twitter.com/6mLc46AD5p
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 6, 2026
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