President Donald Trump compared his oil strategy in Venezuela with the possibility of the United States remaining in Iran. Meanwhile, a Meganálisis poll indicates that his standing among Venezuelans has deteriorated sharply.
Trump said the United States could remain in Iran and “keep the oil like in Venezuela,” as the survey showed a steep decline in his approval rating among Venezuelans. Reuters reported the remarks during his visit to Ireland.
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Trump was discussing the war with Iran when he raised another possibility besides eventually withdrawing US forces: remaining in the country because of its energy resources.
“We’ll eventually get out [of Iran], unless we decide to stay and keep the oil like in Venezuela,” Trump said, according to Reuters. He also claimed that revenue obtained from Venezuela had covered the cost of the war “many times” over.
The comparison is significant because the survey suggests that oil now occupies a central place in respondents’ perceptions of the US president’s intentions.
According to Meganálisis, Trump’s approval rating fell from 92.2% in January to 9.7% in August, while his disapproval rating reached 69.2%.
The polling firm attributed the deterioration to the gap between the expectations of political change generated at the beginning of the year and the results Venezuelans believe they have seen eight months later.
The oil agreement was announced while the survey was being conducted. The timing establishes a coincidence but does not prove that the agreement alone caused the decline in Trump’s approval rating.
Confidence in Trump plummets in Venezuela as María Corina Machado's rises https://t.co/xpxK4Fu2iL
— ABC.es (@abc_es) September 12, 2026
Trump’s declining approval contrasts with the support Meganálisis recorded for María Corina Machado across several hypothetical Venezuelan political scenarios.
In a hypothetical contest between Machado and interim President Delcy Rodríguez, the poll placed Machado at 75.5% and Rodríguez at 3.8%.
Trump’s remarks about “keeping the oil” now add another political element to the debate. They coincide with a survey in which seven out of 10 respondents associated his actions in Venezuela specifically with gaining control of the country’s oil resources.
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SOURCE: ABC / Reuters
