"Easier Said Than Drilled"

Trump’s bravado meets reality as oil executives politely refuse to bankroll chaos, exposing the yawning chasm between his grand promises and the hard math of global energy markets.

Benjamin Franklin had a knack for slicing through bullshit with surgical precision. “A well done is better than well said,” he wrote; colonial shorthand for put up or shut up. If Franklin were alive today, he wouldn’t need a quill. He’d need a laugh track and a stiff drink, because Donald Trump has turned well said into a performance art, entirely divorced from well done.

We’ve heard this soundtrack before. To name just a few; Trump said he’d end the Russia–Ukraine war in 24 hours. He didn’t. He said Israeli hostages would be home before he even took office. They weren’t. He promised to fix the economy in his first 100 days; an arbitrary deadline he loves because it sounds impressive, even when it’s meaningless. Now add another whopper to the ever-growing pile: Trump wants $100 billion in oil investment poured into Venezuela, a country whose own oil executives politely described as “uninvestable.”

Let that word sink in. Uninvestable. That’s not a partisan insult. That’s not a Democrat talking point. That’s ExxonMobil’s CEO, Darren Woods, sitting in the White House, explaining; carefully, diplomatically, and with corporate understatement, that his company has had its assets seized twice in Venezuela. And no, they’re not rushing back for a third round of economic Russian roulette.

But Trump, undeterred by reality as always, announced that after a January 3rd raid that seized Nicolás Maduro, the United States would “unleash” Venezuela’s oil. He promised lower energy prices. He told oil executives, essentially, Don’t worry about Venezuela; you’re dealing with me. Which should terrify any serious business leader, because if there’s one thing Wall Street understands, it’s that Trump’s word is not collateral.

This is the same man who thinks shouting “We’re open for business!” magically creates physical security, legal certainty, and a functioning regulatory framework. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. Oil isn’t sold on vibes and bravado. It’s sold on contracts, courts, stability, and trust; four things Trump routinely trashes before breakfast.

Yes, Venezuela has vast reserves. In real estate terms, as one smaller oil executive gushed, it’s “prime real estate.” But here’s the part Trump never understands: prime real estate in a war zone with no title insurance, no rule of law, and armed men deciding ownership at gunpoint is not an investment. It’s a guaranteed hostage situation.

Even the most optimistic analysts say that to triple Venezuela’s oil production by 2040; two decades from now, it would require roughly $8–9 billion per year. Not Trump’s fantasy $100 billion. And that’s under conditions of political stability that, at the moment, exist only in Trump’s imagination and on his teleprompter.

The executives who attended Trump’s White House meeting did what seasoned professionals do when trapped in a room with a man who confuses ambition with competence: they nodded, praised the “opportunity,” and committed exactly zero serious dollars. As one former State Department energy envoy translated the moment perfectly, they were being “as polite as humanly possible… without committing actual dollars.” In Trump-speak, that’s called a standing ovation. In reality, it’s a slow-motion rejection.

Here’s the deeper problem, and why this matters beyond oil markets and balance sheets. Trump governs the same way he sells: he announces first, pressures later, and assumes the world will bend to his certainty. But oil executives aren’t Fox News hosts. They don’t clap because he speaks loudly. They don’t invest because he promises dominance. They’ve already run the numbers; and the numbers don’t lie, even when Trump does.

Meanwhile, the administration is seizing oil tankers, selectively rolling back sanctions, and routing proceeds into U.S.-controlled accounts, all while claiming this will somehow stabilize Venezuela and lower gas prices for Americans. That’s not a plan. That’s improvisation dressed up as strategy. That’s piracy.

Trump wants Americans to believe that chaos creates leverage. In reality, chaos creates risk; and capital hates risk. The oil industry isn’t afraid of drilling. It’s afraid of unpredictability. And Trump is the human embodiment of unpredictability, wrapped in a red tie and a press release.

Benjamin Franklin understood something Trump never will: saying the thing is easy. Doing the thing requires discipline, patience, and credibility. Trump has mastered the art of well said. Venezuela is just the latest reminder that when it comes to well done, he’s drilling dry holes; again.

And the people who end up paying for it, as always, aren’t the men in the boardroom or the politicians at the podium. It’s the American public, sold another grand promise that was never investable to begin with.

____________________________________________________________________________

NO TIME FOR DISTRACTIONS. HELP US GROW THIS COMMUNITY.

AND, PLEASE SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISTS…

SUBSCRIBE. READ. LIKE. RESTACK.

Yeah, I know; you’re tired. This shit is exhausting.

Guess what? Me too.

But I’ve spent the last 8 years throwing punches in the dark so truth could get a little daylight. And now I’m asking you to step into the ring with me.

Because if you’re still reading this, you already get it:
This isn’t just a newsletter. It’s a rally cry. A war drum. A line in the sand.

We are not passive observers of the downfall. We are the resistance. We call out the liars. We drag corruption by the collar into the sunlight. We say the quiet parts out loud; and we don’t flinch.

But here’s the truth: I can’t do this solo. Not anymore.

The storm is already here. We are standing in it. And it’s wearing stars and stripes like camouflage, preaching “freedom” while it sells fascism at retail.

So let me ask you:
Are. You. In?

Because this is not a scroll-and-forget read. This is a living, breathing, fire-breathing movement; and movements don’t move unless you do.

We need to be louder than spin, tougher than propaganda, and impossible to gaslight.
That takes more than clicks. More than likes.
It takes skin in the game.

So if you believe truth matters; if you’re sick of the bullshit, if you’re ready to stop screaming into the algorithm and start pushing back with purpose, this is your next step.

HERE’S HOW YOU PUT YOUR FOOT ON THE GAS:

• Become a paid subscriber. Fund fearless, unfiltered journalism that hits back.

• Share this with the loudest people you know; the ones who never sit down and shut up.

• Build the community. Amplify the message. Be the damn megaphone.

And yeah; Founding Members? The first 240 of you will get a signed, numbered, limited-edition Substack version of Revenge. That’s not just a collector’s item. That’s receipts. Proof you didn’t sit this one out.

But let’s be clear:

This isn’t about a book.
It’s about backbone.
It’s about calling out the gaslighters and refusing to be played.
It’s about locking arms and saying, “Not. On. Our. Watch.”

You want to make a difference?

Then make it; right now.

Because if we don’t fight for truth, no one will.
But if we fight together?

They can’t drown us out.

Let’s be so loud, they wish we were just angry tweets.
Let’s be unshakable.
Unignorable.
Un-fucking-breakable.

Let’s go!