So, you know how President Trump has been pushing for U.S. companies to jump into Venezuela now that Nicolás Maduro is out? Well, it looks like there's a hitch, especially with Houston's own ExxonMobil. Turns out, Trump is pretty miffed. He's reportedly "inclined" to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela because he didn't like what their CEO, Darren Woods, said. Woods called Venezuela's oil industry "uninvestable" right to Trump's face during a White House meeting. Imagine that. Trump called it "playing too cute." Now, Trump's trying hard to get American oil companies on board. He told them they'd be working directly with the U.S. government, not the unstable Venezuelan one. But even with that promise, ExxonMobil isn't convinced. Their CEO simply pointed out the cold, hard facts: the current legal and commercial setup in Venezuela just doesn't make sense for investment. Think about a country with a history of seizing assets, ongoing U.S. sanctions, and tons of political drama. That's a huge legal risk for any company. To try and calm these fears, Trump actually signed an executive order. This order aims to shield Venezuelan oil money from being grabbed in lawsuits. The White House says if these funds got tied up, it would mess with U.S. efforts to bring stability to Venezuela. It's a move to provide some legal certainty, but it also highlights just how uncertain things are. This isn't just about business. It's about U.S. foreign policy and how we engage economically in other countries. Trump's administration is framing this whole Venezuela effort in economic terms, even seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil and planning to control oil sales worldwide. This raises big questions about international law and national sovereignty. For Houston, where ExxonMobil is headquartered, this tug-of-war has real implications for jobs and the energy market. It's a complex situation, and it just got a whole lot more interesting.