The News
The Trump administration will not be extending Chevron’s Biden-era license to export Venezuelan oil — a decision that contradicted a days-old announcement from Trump’s special envoy Ric Grenell.
The May 27 expiration of the company’s export license, confirmed late Wednesday night by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, came after Grenell said publicly that Trump planned to grant an additional extension beyond the initial one that was given in late March.
“President Trump authorized that extension if we were able to get some progress, if we were able to build some confidence,” Grenell said earlier this week on Steve Bannon’s War Room. “And we were able to do that today, so that extension will be granted.”
But the president, juggling the return of a hostage from Venezuela and his “big, beautiful bill” vote in the House, hadn’t yet made a formal decision on whether to grant another extension, a source familiar with the situation told Semafor. Trump and Rubio spoke last night and decided against the extension, according to a White House official, after Grenell’s comments, alongside media reports, thrust the topic prematurely into the spotlight.
The decision follows an earlier loss for Grenell on US-Venezuela policy, when Semafor first reported in March that Rubio had taken the reins of negotiations on deportation flights to the country.
“The White House and the Secretary of State knew very well when the deadline was to make a decision on this issue,” the White House official told Semafor. “The President and the Secretary of State were the only two people to make this decision.”
Grenell, and a spokesperson at the Kennedy Center, where Grenell serves as president, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Know More
The White House official noted that Wednesday night’s announcement “is in line with” Trump’s “long-standing actions to hold the Maduro regime responsible for their atrocities” in Venezuela. The official added that Trump is “unwilling to embolden this socialist and corrupt regime.”
Grenell has been instrumental in bringing back US hostages from Venezuela: In January he brought back six Americans, and this week he flew back from Antigua with an additional wrongfully detained US citizen.
But the president’s special envoy has at times given conflicting information regarding Venezuela. In March, he said the country had agreed to resume deportation flights, but a senior administration official told Semafor at the time that the promise had not yet materialized in full.
It was around that time that Rubio was asked to bring “order” to deportation flight talks with Venezuela, the official added.
Notable
- Rubio’s responsibility continues to grow inside the Trump administration: Earlier this month, he was tapped as Trump’s interim national security advisor — in addition to three other jobs he already holds, as Semafor reported.
- Miami’s three Republican House members helped kill the oil deal back in February, Axios reported at the time: The trio “suggested — but never explicitly threatened — that they would withhold votes Trump needed for the GOP budget deal” if the license wasn’t nixed.