A Million Barrels at Corpus Christi: Inside the Venezuela Oil Deal Trump Calls a "Gift"
The first Venezuelan tanker under the August agreement has reached Texas. Here's what the deal says, what America gets, and what it won't do for gas prices this week.
By Clara Hughes
On Tuesday, President Trump stood at the Port of Corpus Christi and pointed out to the water. "See that little ship out there? It's got 1 million barrels of oil on it," he told the crowd, according to the Associated Press. It was the first Venezuelan tanker to reach the United States under the oil agreement Washington and Caracas signed in August. Trump called the cargo a "gift" to be processed in Texas refineries. As he left, he told reporters: "We're going to accept a million barrels of oil, and I'm going to give it to you people to use it the way you want" (PBS/AP). A White House official told the New York Post the oil was "provided to the United States for free, at no cost to the taxpayer," and that "this will be the first of the billions of barrels to come from this deal." Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Trump on the trip, his first campaign-trail appearance with the president this