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Wright on The Charlie Kirk Show: Venezuela's Collapse Shows in Its Shrinking Oil Output and U.S. Consequences

January 8, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:14:52

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, welcomed to The Charlie Kirk Show as the official President Trump added the Venezuelan oil issue to, called Venezuela a perfect illustration of Trump’s broader agenda — prosperity at home and peace abroad, deeply tied together in this case, according to Wright.

Wright said Venezuela was a giant oil producer 20, 30, 40, and 50 years ago, built with American companies, investment, and technology, and then collapsed under a socialist, communist, top-down corrupt dictatorship that ruined the country, according to the interview.

For the United States, Wright said, shrinking Venezuelan oil output means less oil on the market and, on balance, higher oil prices; more refugees forced out of the country; and a regime that turned to drug dealing, arms dealing, and human trafficking to fund itself — all of which brought grave negative consequences to the United States, according to Wright.

Why it matters

The interview frames the Venezuela oil assignment, days after Maduro’s capture, as an energy-supply and migration issue for the United States, in the secretary’s own terms.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins The Charlie Kirk Show — January 8, 2026”, 2026-01-08 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-01-08). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.