Move targets Chinese influence while optimizing Gulf Coast refineries built for heavy crude
By Peter Navarro | Fox Business | January 15, 2026
OPINION:
At first glance, it looks like a contradiction — and the left is quick to call it a moral failure.
America is swimming in oil, yet President Donald Trump has moved to bring Venezuelan crude into U.S. refineries. If the United States is energy-independent, they ask, why buy oil from Venezuela at all? After years of sanctions and pressure on Caracas, isn’t this hypocrisy?
The answer is no. It’s strategy. And it starts with a basic fact too many commentators ignore: America has plenty of oil — just not always the right kind.