Florida Republican Rep. María Elvira Salazar deleted a social media post attacking President Donald Trump’s newly announced oil agreement with Venezuela, then returned to X roughly an hour later to call the same deal “great.”
The about-face happened Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. Salazar had first posted criticism in both English and Spanish, warning the arrangement wouldn’t outlast Trump’s time in office.
“Any oil ‘deal’ with Venezuela’s interim regime has an expiration date: the day President Trump leaves the White House,” Salazar wrote in the deleted post.
She also warned that Venezuela’s government could seize American investments again, writing: “The regime has stolen American investments before, and it will do again the moment it can.”
After deleting that post, Salazar posted a markedly different take.
“The U.S.-Venezuela oil deal is a great deal for the United States and the Venezuelan people,” she wrote.
She argued the deal could push out Chinese influence over Venezuelan oil and open the door to American investment. “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 wrote.
Salazar, who is running for reelection, has been a vocal critic of Venezuelan interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, and she didn’t drop that criticism even while endorsing the deal itself. “Delcy is the wrong person to make this deal with,” she wrote.
She said she hopes the agreement lasts a century, but tied its durability to Venezuela holding free elections and building stronger democratic institutions. “We want this deal to last 100 years,” Salazar wrote. “Only an administration backed by strong democratic institutions and the rule of law can guarantee that. This will only be possible with free elections.”
What’s in the deal
Trump announced the agreement Friday following negotiations between Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Rodríguez. Trump said it would give private American companies access to what he called “65 BILLION BARRELS” of proven Venezuelan oil reserves “at no cost to the American Taxpayer.”
Under the terms, Venezuela’s government said companies could operate in 17 oil fields. The investment is expected to bring roughly $100 billion into Venezuela’s oil sector and generate more than $209 billion in tax revenue for the country, according to the Venezuelan government.
Rodríguez has led Venezuela on an interim basis since January, when U.S. Special Forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Salazar’s shift comes in the middle of her reelection campaign. She did not respond to a request for comment about the deleted posts, according to the New York Post, which first reported the reversal.
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