A Republican congresswoman criticized Donald Trump’s latest move on Venezuelan oil – before awkwardly deleting her original post and replacing it with praise.
Maria Elvira Salazar, who represents parts of South Florida‘s Miami-Dade County, has been a vocal critic of Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez.
Her constituents skew heavily Hispanic, with many immigrants who lived under socialism and communism in Cuba and other South and Central American countries.
Salazar wrote on her official government X account Saturday evening: ‘Any oil ‘deal’ with Venezuela’s interim regime has an expiration date: the day President Trump leaves the White House.’
The message was riddled with negativity – including saying Venezuela’s leader is just ‘buying time,’ that they have ‘stolen American investments,’ and that there will be ‘no lasting deal’ without democracy.
But about an hour later, the posts on her account were taken down, before being replaced with a drastically different message on her personal political account.
‘The U.S.-Venezuela oil deal is a great deal for the United States and the Venezuelan people,’ Salazar noted – with a far more positive outlook on the collaboration.
‘For years, China took advantage of Venezuela’s weakness to buy its oil at deep discounts. Now America is stepping in, and American investment and influence offer Venezuela a path toward prosperity, stability, and security,’ she continued, before still jabbing at Rodríguez, adding: ‘Delcy is the wrong person to make this deal with.’
Florida Republican Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar posted praise of Trump’s Venezuelan oil deal on her congressional account after initially criticizing it
Salazar criticized Trump’s oil deal on her personal X account on Saturday
Salazar’s representatives were contacted for comment on the different messages.
President Trump announced Friday that he had landed the ‘biggest oil deal in world history’ following a deal with Venezuela.
Trump also noted on Sunday morning, ‘One of the things I am going to do with the Venezuelan Oil is fill up the Strategic National Reserves which, because of Sleepy Joe Biden, has been virtually emptied.’
The president revealed that he had secured control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in a move he says will slash gas prices for ordinary Americans.
Trump credited Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on brokering the deal with Interim President of Venezuela Delcy Rodriguez.
‘This Historic Transaction MORE THAN DOUBLES American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future, while helping to continue to set Venezuela on a course toward Tremendous Success and Great Prosperity,’ the president said on Truth Social on Friday.
Trump also promised the deal came at ‘no cost to the American taxpayer.’
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What does Salazar’s sudden reversal reveal about political loyalty and the risks of speaking out against Trump?
Salazar praised of Trump’s Venezuelan oil deal on her congressional account after initially criticizing it on her personal account
Venezuela’s Interim President Delcy Rodriguez has worked with the Trump administration since Maduro’s removal earlier this year
Trump has said on a of number occasions that his administration works well with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez
Trump shared that one positive of the Venezuelan oil deal would be refilling the US Strategic National Reserve
‘This Transaction will greatly strengthen the already growing relationship between Venezuela and the United States!’ he added.
The deal was made along side private businesses, which Axios reported includes American oil firms.
It is the second agreement Trump has made with the new Venezuelan government since he captured the country’s former president Nicolas Maduro in January during Operation Absolute Resolve.
In the days following Maduro’s ouster in January, Trump floated the idea of US oil companies returning to Venezuela to tap its oil reserves.
Trump has argued that Venezuela stole US oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.
Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground.
The reserves are equivalent to about 17 percent of the world’s supply, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The Daily Mail reached out to Representative Salazar’s office for comment.
