Speaking to reporters at his golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland, on September 13, 2026, Trump said of the war with Iran: “We'll ultimately get out unless we decide to stay and keep the oil, like Venezuela.” He claimed U.S. revenue from Venezuela had “paid for the war many times,” and repeated that the war would end around the midterm elections: “it'll end right after the midterms. Gasoline's going to drop like a rock.” He added that Iran “wants to make a deal so bad. They are calling constantly.”
The remark was a conditional aside rather than an announced policy, and Trump did not offer details of any oil arrangement with Iran; USA Today said it had reached out to the White House for comment. The coverage included no figures supporting his claim that Venezuelan revenue has paid for the war. The idea is not new for him. The Hill noted that in March he told the Financial Times that taking the oil was his “favorite thing,” adding that “some stupid people back in the U.S. say: 'Why are you doing that?' But they're stupid people.”
The comparison he chose is the August deal under which the United States said it would control a fifth of Venezuela's oil through a private partner, after installing that country's interim leadership (see Trump Announces 'the Biggest Oil Deal in World History': Majority US Control of Venezuelan Reserves, Granted by the Government He Installed and Trump Says the Iran War 'Will End Immediately After Our Election,' Accusing Tehran of Holding Out for 'Dumb, Weak Democrats').