Jan. 11, 2026, 9:25 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he might block Exxon Mobil from investing in Venezuela after the company’s CEO called the country “uninvestable” during a White House meeting last week.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods told Trump that Venezuela would need to change its laws before it could be an attractive investment opportunity, during a White House meeting on Jan. 9 with other oil executives.
His comments were a blow to Trump’s goal of convincing U.S. oil firms to spend billions of dollars to revitalize Venezuela’s oil industry after capturing the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife on Jan. 3 and bringing them to New York to face trial on charges of narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking.
“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way back to Washington on Jan. 11. “I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute.”
Exxon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
“We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen here,” Woods told Trump at the White House.
Venezuela’s oil production suffered in recent years under U.S. sanctions. Chevron has been the only U.S. company operating there but administration officials expect that company to expand operations soon and others such as Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips to join. Venezuela nationalized Exxon’s and Conoco’s assets nearly 20 years ago.
Woods said that Exxon needed durable investment protections introduced and the country’s hydrocarbons law also needed to be reformed.
“If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable,” he said at the time.
Contributing: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY.
