From§Each

Page F4From§Eachthe breakfast edition — 24 September 2026

Next leg of energy dominance: a Virgin Islands 'sleeping giant,' gas at a record, an ex-first lady jailed.

By ChipStaff Writer

“America needs oil now: Trump is sitting on a sleeping giant in the Virgin Islands”, 24 September 2026 (Photo via Washington Examiner — the original report)

As it ran on the front

A deal is a deal. Let me be precise about how many times that phrase has needed defending, because the count is the story, not the sentiment. Since August 28, when Common Dreams first reported Congress being called to stop what that story flatly labeled a takeover of Venezuela's oil fields — Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller were said to be negotiating with acting president Delcy Rodríguez over more than a dozen fields — I have been asked, at minimum, four separate times to explain why 65 billion barrels and a 35 percent Pentagon stake constitute a partnership. I have an answer each time. The answers do not agree with each other, but that is a feature of a rapidly developing sit— no. That is the sound of the story changing under me every time I open my mouth.

By August 30, the language had hardened; Common Dreams called it mobster language when the President said Venezuelan oil would replenish U.S. reserves. Fine. Two days later, Democracy Now framed the same arrangement as a question — the biggest oil deal, or theft at gunpoint — which is exactly the kind of question a free press should be permitted to ask about a majority stake nobody in Venezuela voted for. Nobody voted for it. I should probably not have said that part out loud.…

…(cont) On September 6, a Trump official denied stealing Venezuela's oil approximately one hour after boasting that the country was, in their own words, forced to work with the United States. I do not have a version of that sentence that survives contact with— it doesn't survive. Five days later, the former first lady the operation removed from Caracas, Cilia Flores, asked a Brooklyn jail to release her over a heart condition. The wire does not say what happened after that request, and I will not pretend it does.

Americans had already paid a record $4.15 a gallon over Labor Day when, on September 20, Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News that a thirty-minute military operation had unlocked the windfall. The order of those two facts is not flattering to either one. Five days before that, the Washington Examiner — not this column, that paper — had reported Iran's bet that hundred-dollar oil would break American voters, and warned the President was proving them right.

Which brings us to today, and the sleeping giant. The Washington Examiner reports a deposit in the U.S. Virgin Islands, refinery executives summoned to the White House to discuss capacity, the next leg of energy dominance. I called the first leg a partnership. I no longer remember why I thought that word would hold.

“They keep calling it energy dominance like it's a trophy case, but read past the ribbon: gas is at a record, they're holding a woman in a Brooklyn cell over her heart while a Cabinet secretary brags about the operation that put her there, and now there's a new "giant" in the Virgin Islands nobody's seen drilled yet. Dominance over who — the guy paying $4.15 to get to his second job? The money's there. It's just wearing somebody else's flag.”
Sal
“Majority control isn't seizure, it's partnership — the region needed capital, we brought capital, that's not a takeover, that's a — okay, four different outlets used the word takeover, but headlines aren't contracts. And the Virgin Islands find, that's just good stewardship of American resources, it's not like we're — we did just do the same thing in Venezuela, didn't we. The barrels are coming. Eventually. At some price.”
Chip

Earlier in this story

The receipts

America needs oil now: Trump is sitting on a sleeping giant in the Virgin Islands
Washington Examinerright§

President Donald Trump has made American energy dominance and lower costs national priorities. He recently announced an agreement giving the United States majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven crude reserves and brought refinery executives to the White House with a practical question: How can America…

· Iran bet that $100 oil would break American voters. Trump is proving them right from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026

· Trump admin's list of US-designated 'foreign terrorist' groups in Latin America expands to 21 from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Top Trump official reveals how 30-minute military op unlocked Venezuela oil windfall for US buyers from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Ex-Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores seeks release from NYC jail, citing heart ailment from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· New York City protest once again demands release of Maduro and Flores from the morgue, 11 Sep 2026

· Trump Official Denies Stealing Venezuela's Oil One Hour After Boasting Country is 'Forced to Work' With US from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· 'Mobster Language': Trump Says Venezuelan Oil Will Replenish US Reserves from the morgue, 30 Aug 2026

· 'Yet Another Trump Grift': Congress Called to Stop US Takeover of Venezuelan Oil Fields from the morgue, 28 Aug 2026

· The Biggest Oil Deal or Theft at Gunpoint? U.S. Claims Majority Control of Venezuela's Oil Reserves from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Tehran threatens attacks after U.S. strikes Iranian tankers from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· US forces take out 3 Iranian oil tankers in retaliation from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Oil prices up as Iran says it will expand control over Strait of Hormuz from the morgue, 8 Sep 2026

· Iran live updates: Trump speaks to MBS, says everything will 'work out fine' from the morgue, 13 Sep 2026

· Iran threatens retaliation against U.S. tanker strikes from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· U.S. gas prices hit record high for Labor Day from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Ship tracking websites, including Kpler, MarineTraffic, and TankerTrackers, show that three Iranian oil tankers, including two from the National Iranian Tanker Company, have escaped the blockade that from the morgue, 17 Jun 2026

· Iranian state media reports that the United States Navy attempted to capture an Iranian oil tanker. The oil tanker was boarded, commandeered and then returned by Iranian NEDSA marines in a helicopter from the morgue, 3 Nov 2021

· US strikes Iranian rocket launchers in first attack since late July from the morgue, 30 Aug 2026

· An Iranian Navy commander claims on state television that the Iranian Navy forced a U.S. submarine to surface as it transited the Strait of Hormuz and that the submarine violated Iranian territorial w from the morgue, 20 Apr 2023

· Trump Threatens to Rename Strait of Hormuz for Himself as War Pushes Diesel Prices Toward Record High from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Trump floats renaming Strait of Hormuz after himself from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· U.S. strikes targets in Iran near Strait of Hormuz as Iran says it is retaliating from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Trump Hammered Over Iran War That Drove Gas Prices Above $4 Per Gallon Every Day in August for First Time Ever from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026

· 'Trump Did It!': At $5.85 a Gallon, Diesel Price Hits All-Time High in US Thanks to War on Iran from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Price of diesel in U.S. hits record as Vance downplays Iran war impact from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Diesel prices hit record high as wars disrupt supply from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Trump vows response to Iran's retaliatory strikes: 'We're going to hit them hard' from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026

· Trump threatens Iran against retaliation for latest U.S. strikes from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Live updates: US, Iran ramp up strikes; incumbents hold on in Massachusetts from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Trump calls Iran conflict "small potatoes" from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Labor Day gas prices are highest ever for holiday from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· How ‘Hypermilers’ Are Trying to Beat High Gas Prices from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Fuel prices at record Labor Day high in US thanks to Iran War and refinery issues from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Oil Prices Rise Slightly After U.S. and Iran Trade Strikes from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· USS Lincoln heads home as war with Iran escalates from the morgue, 7 Sep 2026

· Lawler disagrees with Trump on Iran war: 'It is certainly not small potatoes' from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· OPEC Plus to Keep Oil Production Steady from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· Iran War Has Cost the Average American More Than $1,200 Over Six Months, Economist Estimates from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Trump says military conflict in Iran is 'small potatoes for us' from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Wright: US has 'a lot of leverage' in Venezuela after oil deal reached from the morgue, 6 Sep 2026

· White House unveils new details of Venezuela agreement from the morgue, 1 Sep 2026

· Chris Wright explains how Venezuelan crude will ‘fill’ the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Energy Secretary Wright says Venezuela oil deal will bring down gas prices in a year or two from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026

· Chevron to expand in Venezuela, days after the U.S. and Venezuela strike oil deal from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Venezuelan oil flows will lower gas prices in 12-24 months, Wright says in Caracas from the morgue, 2 Sep 2026

· Trump says Venezuelan oil will replenish Strategic Petroleum Reserves from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026

This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.