Trump Signals He Will Likely Keep ExxonMobil Out of Venezuela

‘They had problems in the past because they didn’t have Trump as a president,’ Trump told reporters.

An ExxonMobil refinery in Baytown, Texas, in an undated file photograph. Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

President Donald Trump said on Jan. 11 that he is inclined to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its CEO expressed doubts about investing in the country’s oil sector.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he didn’t like something that ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods said at a Jan. 9 meeting with oil executives, which Trump held to push for investments in Venezuela’s oil sector following the ouster of regime leader Nicolás Maduro.