Fact Check: Did Trump's US make hundreds of billions from Venezuela to fund the Iran war?

WASHINGTON, DC: US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that revenues from Venezuelan oil have offset the costs of the US military campaign against Iran, at various times saying the proceeds covered the costs "25 times over," "10 times over," or amounted to "hundreds of billions of dollars."

His recent remarks have sparked online claims that the United States generated hundreds of billions of dollars from Venezuela to finance the war with Iran. Let's fact-check the claim.

Claim: Trump says Venezuelan oil revenue outweighs the cost of Iran war

According to a clip shared by several X users reporting on Trump's remarks during an Oval Office press interaction on October 30, the US president claimed that revenues from US operations in Venezuela had more than offset the costs of its seven-month conflict with Iran.

He cited hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and repeatedly described the financial returns as many times greater than the war's costs, referring to a 10-fold return.

During the press conference, Trump shared, "We’ve been there for seven months. We’re spending very little money, relatively speaking. I heard somebody say, 'You’re spending money.' I said, “Well, any money we spent, we’ve more than made up for in a place called Venezuela, like by 10 times.”

He added, "You know, I watched this guy, Ro Khanna, who’s a lightweight, and he was saying that President Trump is spending a lot of money. Well, I spent a lot of money in order to get rid of a nuclear weapon, which we’ve done. But any money we’ve spent in Iran, we’ve more than made up for with what we did in Venezuela, taken in hundreds of billions of dollars, many, many times."

He added, “But they don’t mention these things. So that’s why I like to have news conferences; I can mention when other people forget. They also said it was terrible that they attacked the house of Ilhan Omar, which is not her real name. It was terrible that they would attack her. Well, they attacked my house, and nobody brought that up."

Fact Check: The claim is false

The claim that the United States earned hundreds of billions of dollars from Venezuelan oil to cover the cost of the Iran war is false.

Independent analysts and fact-checkers estimate that the US has collected roughly $13 billion in oil revenue from Venezuela, with the money held in US Treasury accounts. This amount falls far short of the hundreds of billions of dollars Trump claimed.

The Pentagon estimates that the direct cost of the military campaign against Iran ranges from $29 billion to $47 billion. Even the lower estimate represents a significant share of the reported Venezuelan oil revenue, which does not support Trump's claim that the oil earnings covered the war costs many times over.

Notably, Trump claimed at campaign events that Venezuelan oil had paid for the Iran war "about 25 times over" and generated hundreds of billions of dollars.

Media investigations and fact-checks, including reports by WBAL-TV, found that these figures were false or greatly exaggerated. Some estimates also point out that $100 billion or more would exceed Venezuela's entire gross domestic product several times over.

The US reached agreements involving Venezuela's oil reserves following the administration's actions in Caracas. However, the actual revenue remains far below Trump's claims. Meanwhile, the conflict with Iran continues to put pressure on domestic fuel and energy prices.