Trump ‘Inclined’ to Keep Exxon Out of Venezuela

The president said he didn’t like comments from the company’s CEO during a meeting Friday at the White House.

WASHINGTON—President Trump said he might block Exxon Mobil from drilling in Venezuela after the company’s top executive publicly acknowledged the barriers involved in doing business in the country.

Representational file photo. (REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi) (Reuters)

“I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out,” Trump said Sunday evening, speaking to reporters traveling with him aboard Air Force One.

During a meeting with oil-company executives at the White House on Friday, Exxon Chief Executive Darren Woods said that Venezuela is currently “uninvestable” without significant changes to the country’s commercial frameworks, legal system and hydrocarbon laws. He expressed confidence those changes could be put in place with the Trump administration and Venezuelan government working together.

“I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute,” Trump said Sunday of Woods’s comments, adding that other companies want to invest in Venezuela.

Exxon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump has been pushing U.S. energy companies to invest in Venezuela following the capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. But some companies have expressed concerns about entering the volatile country.

At the White House on Friday, Trump told the oil-industry executives that the U.S. would provide unspecified security guarantees to companies that go into Venezuela and invest in the country’s ailing energy infrastructure.

Write to Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com