I know it might be too early to know “why” he completed military actions in the country, but I’m just curious as to where/how this all started?
https://www.reddit.com/r/news/s/BiyKcAYStI
Can anyone explain to me what Trump is trying to do in Venezuela? He’s been getting the US military to murder people on alleged “drug boats” - no evidence given, and today seized a Venezuelan oil tanker. What is he trying to achieve or what is the end goal? To me this behaviour seems no better than what Putin does, or terrorist groups such as the Houthis.
What is happening in Venezuela ? Did the US take out Maduro regime in few hours?
ALL POSTS ABOUT THE INVASION ARE LOCKED. KEEP ALL DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THIS TOPIC TO MEGATHREADS!
Early on Saturday, explosions were heard and aircraft was spotted in Caracas, Venezuela's capital. This happens after months of allegations that Venezuela has turned into a narco state. It is the first invasion by the US on Latin America since 1989.
According to the US, they have successfully captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and they have been flown out of the country. Venezuelans leaders have not confirmed or denied this fact.
Source: Reuters
We expect more information in the coming hours regarding this conflict between US and Venezuela. I have to leave soon, so if any mod reads this, feel free to start a 2nd Megathread later. Otherwise, I'll keep updating this megathread later today.
Don't forget to respect our rules, particularly the one regarding civility!
Just stated in press conference at Mar-a-Lago. Fascinating development in the American activity in the region.
https://www.npr.org/2026/01/03/g-s1-104346/trump-venezuela-maduro-press-conference
We’ve all read the news, but what are Trumps real motivations. What do you guys think he wants?
Flooding the global oil supply will lower prices, or more importantly, give Trump additional control over the global economy through the oil supply. This may potentially be used as a bargaining chip (e.g. to weaken Iranian, Russian, Chinese economies, or to strengthen the dollar through Tariff style manipulation and leverage). Funds like USO and UCO will be interesting to watch - personally i’m staying away.
Not only does Venezuela hold oil, but it also holds lots of gold. While Gold is currently trading at all time highs (and many economies like BRICS have been stocking up on reserves), Trump may wish to crash the gold price to ‘reinforce’ the safety of the dollar. Or, again, he may wish to leverage control. I am holding IAUM, but may sell some to resize. Again interesting to watch.
Some have also speculated a digital currency backed by tangible (potentially Venezuelan) assets - I don’t really buy this but its interesting nonetheless.
US grid capacity shortages have been noticeable and heavy generators are already being rolled out to fuel Data Centres and AI Infrastructure. As mentioned by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, ‘massive fleets of diesel and gas’ generators (35GW massive) may help to bridge the gap until renewable energy / grid upgrades materialise. It would cost a huge amount to buy that much fuel, if only I could get it for free… I think CAT is a miss for other reasons, but GNRC and CMI might be good plays given this background.
All of this can be very damaging to China, as well as the fact that China has been ‘renting’ Venezuelan resources through loans granting them rights to gold, oil and rare earth materials. While I don’t think that the Rare Earths are particularly significant, snubbing China is still useful for Trump in terms of resources and ego. There may be a rise in the likes of USAR…
Personally I believe that the gold price and ETFs will start to plateau, and pending Trumps actions, maybe even fall.
Oil ETFs will probably remain fairly stable until Trump does something, although I believe that stocks such as HAL or CVX would be solid investments over the next two years.
Did i miss anything?