President Donald Trump was roasted after he read out loud a private note Secretary of State Marco Rubio attempted to pass him during a meeting with oil executives on Friday.
Trump and senior administration officials met Friday with oil industry executives, including leaders from Chevron and Exxon, as part of an effort to secure billions of dollars in new investment in Venezuela’s oil sector.
After the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump said the United States would effectively “run” the country and take a major role in overseeing and developing its oil industry.
Trump was in the middle of speaking when Rubio placed a small sheet of paper in front of him that he picked up and read aloud:
"Marco just gave me a note. ... ‘Go back to Chevron, they want to discuss something.’”
Trump then appeared to take Rubio's advice:
"Go ahead, I’m going back to Chevron. Thank you, Marco."
The moment confused one of the attendees who asked if there was "a question" that needed to be asked but Trump deferred to Rubio:
"Yes. Go ahead. Marco, what are you saying here?”
You can watch what happened in the video below.
The mockery was swift.
Oil industry leaders are not necessarily convinced they should make long-term investments in Venezuela despite the Trump administration's successful ouster of Maduro.
Darren Woods, the Exxon chief executive, called Venezuela "uninvestable," adding that “we’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes."
Oklahoma oil tycoon Harold Hamm said investing in Venezuela "excites me as an explorationist," but nonetheless added that Venezuela has "its challenges."
After Mark Nelson, the vice chairman of Chevron, spoke, Trump, who wants oil companies to invest at least $100 billion, said, “If we make a deal, you will be there a long time ... if we don’t make a deal, you won’t be there at all.”
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