Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the billionaire president told reporters that he talked to oil companies “before and after” the attack, describing them as crucial to “fix the infrastructure” in the South American country after the capture of Nicolás Maduro.

“They want to go in, and they’re going to do a great job for the people of Venezuela, and they’re going to represent us well,” Trump said. “The infrastructure is rusty, rotten, most of it is unusable. It’s old. It’s broken. You see pipes lying all over the ground, nothing’s been invested for years.”