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Secretary Wright Tells NBC the U.S. Holds 'Tremendous Leverage' Over Venezuela Through Its Oil Revenue

February 13, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:22:31

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What happened

Interviewed by NBC’s Kristen Welker in Venezuela, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Americans should care about the engagement because it is a great example of President Trump’s groundbreaking diplomacy: Venezuela had been spiraling downhill for 25 years, traditional efforts produced no progress, and the problems for Americans — crime, drugs and illegal immigration — increased, while the new approach reached a pivot point with no American troops and no taxpayer dollars spent, as he stated it. He said 8 million people have fled Venezuela, including criminal elements sent intentionally to the United States, and that the collapse of a major oil producer’s output put upward pressure on gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices, according to his remarks.

Asked who is in charge, Wright said the Venezuelans are in charge in Venezuela, but the United States has enormous leverage over the interim authorities because the largest revenue source funding Venezuela’s government is now controlled by the United States: if the authorities drive positive change benefiting Americans and improving Venezuelans’ lives, the money will flow, and if they steer off that path the U.S. holds tremendous leverage — again, with no soldiers on the ground and no taxpayer money, as he stated it. He confirmed President Trump has the final say over the flow of funds into Venezuela, not over what happens inside the country, and called the progress in five weeks pretty astounding, according to his remarks.

On the first U.S.-overseen sales of Venezuelan oil, Wright said that as Venezuela reopens for business there will be huge American investment and corporate profits taxed in the United States, but that the oil sales money itself — all of it — is returning to Venezuela, as he stated it. Asked whether he could guarantee the revenue would benefit the Venezuelan people rather than the regime, he said there are no guarantees in life, but contrasted the arrangement with 25 years of plummeting conditions, according to his remarks.

Why it matters

The interview is the Energy secretary’s fullest on-the-record description of the Venezuela arrangement five weeks in: U.S. control of the oil revenue stream as leverage, Venezuelan formal authority, and no U.S. troops or taxpayer dollars — the structure against which the policy’s later results are measured.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins NBC’s Kristen Welker - February 12, 2026”, 2026-02-13 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-02-13). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.