Jan 6, 2026 - Politics & Policy

Trump presses Venezuela to dismiss agents from China, Russia, Iran, Cuba

Trump standing at a podium in front of two American flags wearing a navy suit jacket, white collared shirt and red tie — President Trump on Jan. 6 in D.C. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

The Trump administration is pressing Venezuela's interim government to dismiss all suspected spies and other intelligence agents from China, Russia, Cuba and Iran from the South American country, a U.S. official told Axios.

The big picture: The move, which does not apply to regular diplomatic personnel, marks the administration's latest effort to force the oil-rich nation to meet U.S. demands following last week's raid that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

President Trump has warned that noncompliance by Venezuela's interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, could trigger a second military operation in the country.

State of play: Trump said Tuesday Venezuela's interim authorities will "be turning over" between "30 and 50 MILLION" barrels of oil to the U.S.

The president, who is scheduled to meet with oil companies Friday, said the sanctioned oil will be sold at market price, and he will control the resulting revenue "to benefit" Venezuela and the U.S.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested Sunday that the U.S. would implement an "oil quarantine" to force Venezuela's new leaders to comply with the administration's goals — ultimately giving the United States greater leverage to refine the country's abundance of crude oil.
The White House did not immediately respond to Axios' Tuesday evening request for comment.

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Trump presses Venezuela to dismiss agents from China, Russia, Iran, Cuba

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