US President Donald Trump claimed that India will purchase oil from Venezuela instead of buying Iranian oil. Meanwhile, he also said that China is “welcome” to buy Venezuelan oil.

However, there have been no comments on the same from the Indian government yet.

According to ANI, addressing reporters aboard Air Force One, he said, “China is welcome to come in and make a great deal on oil. We’ve already made a deal. India is coming in, and they’re going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. So, we’ve already made the concept of the deal.”

“We’ve already made a deal. India is coming in, and they’re going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. We’ve already made a deal. India is coming in, and they’re going, we’ve already made that deal, the concept of the deal. But China’s welcome to come in and buy oil,” the US President added.

Venezuelan oil trade

Earlier, Trump had stated that Venezuela had offered the US “50 million barrels of oil” worth USD 5.2 billion, and he had agreed to that deal.

Trump had further commended the “great relationship” with the Venezuelan interim government, formed after the US captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation.

After Maduro’s capture, Trump had made it clear that Washington would “run” Venezuela during a transition and needs “total access to the oil and to other things in their country.”

US-India tariff tensions 

In August 2025, Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India, citing the country’s continued purchase of Russian oil. 

The White House had remarked that the decision is aimed at strengthening measures taken under earlier sanctions against Russia following its actions in Ukraine, as per IANS. The US President had announced a 25 per cent tariff on India before this.

The order stated that New Delhi is directly or indirectly importing oil from Moscow, which the US considers a threat to its national security and foreign policy.