U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with members of the media aboard Air Force One en route from Florida to Washington, U.S., January 11, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
After President Donald Trump invited oil company CEOs to the White House in a bid to get them to invest in Venezuelan oil extraction, the CEO of one of the biggest oil companies in the world publicly disparaged the South American country's oil reserves — angering the president in the process. Now, one of Trump's former advisors is defending the CEO's position.
During a Monday segment on her show "The Source," CNN host Kaitlan Collins noted that ExxonMobil CEO Darren Wayne Woods called Venezuela "un-investable" when talking about the prospect of drilling for and refining the South American country's oil reserves. Woods said the current "legal andcommercial constructs andframeworks in place" made it virtually impossible for his company to commit billions of dollars to Venezuela.
Collins also played remarks from Trump, who bristled when asked about Woods' take on Venezuela. She observed that Trump has since planned to exclude ExxonMobil from any Venezuelan oil-related projects in the future.
"I didn't like Exxon'sresponse. You know, we have somany that want it. I'd probablybe inclined to keep Exxon out. Ididn't like their response," he said. "They're they're playing too cute."
David Urban – who was an advisor to Trump's 2016 campaign — agreed with Woods. He told Collins that the company was likely wary of investing significant money and time into Venezuela given the volatile nature of Trump's recent ouster ofVenezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
"I think Exxon's CEO isspeaking the truth," Urban said. "... Ifyou're putting billions ofdollars into an economy and a legal systemthat has no recourse, it's likeinvesting money in China. Youmay never get it back out again. And so I think the CEO isspeaking the truth."
"The lawswill change. They'll have newregime come in. I'm sure thingswill change. The legal constructwill change, become much morefriendly for foreign investment,and things will be be able to beput there," he continued. "But as it standstoday, I'm not so sure thatother people are going to berunning after him toinvest money ... You'll see all the bigfolks kind of sitting it out,waiting to see how the lawschange there."
Watch the segment below:
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