Trump claims US made fortune in Venezuela, praises Hegseth

Donald Trump publicly claimed that the United States "made a fortune with Venezuela" and described his Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, as "guilty of winning two wars." He provided no figures, contracts, or breakdowns to support the first claim.

## What exactly was said and where

The phrase came from an X post shared by the account **Clash Report**, which collects statements from the US president: "We made a fortune on Venezuela." The same material includes another reference to **Pete Hegseth**, his Defense Secretary, describing him as "guilty of winning two wars." The wording is striking due to the verb choice: it presents a military victory as if it were a crime.

There are no data in the message or cited posts about what fortune, its size, or the specific operation. Nor is it specified which two wars are being referred to.

## A fortune without figures

The claim that the **United States** has economically benefited from **Venezuela** is, for now, a political statement without public numerical backing in the cited material. The Caribbean country holds one of the world's largest crude oil reserves, and any intervention or agreement regarding its oil has evident economic consequences. But there is a gap between that and speaking of a "fortune," which requires contracts, volumes, and dates.

Anyone who reads the phrase and takes it as accounting data is mistaken: it is a declaration, not an audit.

## Why the tone matters

The message chains together two ideas that rarely go hand in hand in political economy: winning a war and making money from the invaded or intervened country. The first part is attributed to **Hegseth**; the second, to **Trump** himself. Together they build a narrative where conflict is presented as business.

This framing has real effects: it conditions how negotiations occur, how military spending is justified, and how **Venezuela** is perceived in markets. If the fortune exists, someone will account for it. If not, the phrase remains rhetoric.

Caution: any assertion about economic benefits from a military operation should be verified against official and auditable sources before being accepted.