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Wright Discusses Coal, Nuclear Reactors, and Venezuelan Oil Sales on Fox Business

January 19, 2026 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:04:57

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

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business on January 19, 2026, according to the Department of Energy. Wright said coal remains critical to the reliability and affordability of U.S. electricity and that states rushing to close coal plants have had rapidly escalating prices, as he stated it. He said tech companies will pay for data-center power under President Trump’s electricity auction proposal and want to, because they need much more electricity and do not want to drive up prices, as he stated it.

On nuclear, Wright said the administration is reopening closed plants, expanding capacity at others, and will soon see construction start on many new ones, as he stated it. He said President Trump set a goal of new small modular reactors operating in nuclear mode — critical — by July 4 of this year, that the goal will be achieved with multiple reactors critical by that date, as he stated it, and that the designs are similar to those powering Navy ships, as he stated it.

On Venezuela, Wright said the United States is actively selling Venezuelan oil taken from tankers, that Gulf Coast refineries in Louisiana and Texas were built for Venezuelan crude, and that the U.S. will take the majority of Venezuelan exports and sell it on the global marketplace, as he stated it. He said the revenue from the sale will go to Venezuela, with U.S. benefits in lower energy and asphalt costs and reduced criminality and drug imports, as he stated it.

Why it matters

The segment carries one of the administration’s most precisely dated technology claims — multiple small modular reactors critical by July 4, 2026, as Wright stated it — alongside its stated terms for Venezuelan oil sales.

Scoreboard watch

Wright stated that multiple new small modular reactors would be critical and running by July 4, 2026 — a dated, checkable claim.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Fox Business’ Stuart Varney - January 19, 2026”, 2026-01-19 (official upload, embedded above; published 2026-01-19). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.