Donald Trump's big claim: 'India will now buy oil from Venezuela, not Iran'

News Topical, Digital Desk : US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh statement regarding oil purchases. He said that if China wants to buy Venezuelan oil, it is "welcome." India has already signed a deal to purchase the oil.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, he said, "China is welcome to come and make a great deal on oil. We have already made a deal. India is coming and they will buy oil from Venezuela instead of buying from Iran. So, we have already conceptualized the deal."

Donald Trump, President, America

The Indian government has not yet responded to Trump's comments. 

Earlier, Trump had said that Venezuela had offered 50 million barrels of oil worth US$5.2 billion to the US and he had agreed to the deal.

What claims has Trump made before?

Addressing the press on renaming Southern Boulevard to Donald Trump Boulevard, Trump said, "We're dealing with a new president. We're dealing with a lot of people who run the country. They said we have 50 million barrels of oil and we need to process it immediately because we don't have space. Will you take it? I said, we'll take it. It's worth $5.2 billion."

Trump also praised the "good relationship" with Venezuela's interim government. He said, "We've had a very good relationship with the person who's the interim president right now and with everybody else. A lot of the pressure has been taken off."

Is the revenue being kept in the US government account?

After Maduro was captured, Trump made it clear that Washington would run Venezuela during the transition and wanted full access to oil and other resources in his country.

Trump's comments also confirm a recent report by New York-based news outlet Semaphore that the US has made its first sale of Venezuelan oil worth US$500 million. According to the Semaphore report, according to an administration official, revenue from the oil sales is currently being held in US government-controlled bank accounts, as specified in the order. According to another senior administration official, the main account is in Qatar.

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