Captain K's Corner

Captain K's Corner

Three Vital Takeaways from Trump’s Venezuela Deal

You’ll always get lost if you only play the short game

Capt. Seth Keshel's avatar
Capt. Seth Keshel
Aug 31, 2026
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You may remember a guest post from a few months ago by Ada Nestor:

Guest Post: Ada Nestor Reviews The American War on Election Corruption

Ada Nestor and Capt. Seth Keshel
·
May 19
Guest Post: Ada Nestor Reviews The American War on Election Corruption

Captain K’s Note: The following is a guest post by Ada Nestor, a true student of modern events and the author of the quickly rising newsletter, “My Reflections From The Edge,” which is linked immediately below and is a must-subscribe. Ada first hosted me in

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Ada reviewed my book, The American War on Election Corruption, in her post. Let me tell you - she’s sharp as a tack and has a sense of perception second to none. Check out the piece she dropped yesterday in her newsletter, which I urge you to subscribe to:

My Reflections From The Edge
While You Were Watching a Lake Get Renamed
This week the President signed an executive order declaring a national emergency over the security of the United States bulk power system. Not a press release. Not a proposal. A national emergency, invoked under the same statutory authority u…
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a day ago · 17 likes · 6 comments · Ada Nestor

“While You Were Watching a Lake Get Renamed”

Believe me, I’ve already heard all the second-guessing, hand-wringing, and rationalizing from so-called conservatives going on about changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Ada had this to say:

The same week, Lake Ontario became “Lake America.” A map with a name crossed out on Truth Social. An Oval Office signing. Canadian premiers issuing statements. Three straight news cycles arguing about whether a body of water can be renamed by executive fiat, and whether the Atlantic is next. I’ll believe the Atlantic panic when someone actually tries it.

I didn’t write a word about the lake. Not because it isn’t a story. Because I was watching two real ones.

She went on to talk about some actions President Trump took last week related to a national emergency over our power system. Give it a read and you’ll realize that she appreciates the same thing about the President that I’ve noticed for years now.

When President Trump is getting things done in a big way, he usually throws out a series of distractions for the press and Trump-deranged (often the same people) to choke on. That way, someone with an inside scoop to derail peace/trade/negotiation cannot gain the necessary leverage over people who would rather defend a communist or openly express their disdain over naming something to honor one’s own country.

Then, when the ink dries, you get something like this:

“Breaking News: The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!”

President Trump pointed out that the United States now controls 65 billion barrels (65 thousand million) of Venezuela’s oil reserves - enough to supply the petroleum and oil needs of the United States (20.6 million barrels per day) for almost nine years.

Ada’s post compelled me to produce what I believe are the three most vital takeaways for Trump’s Venezuela oil deal, along with deeper explanations for each as to how they will benefit us, the people of the United States of America.

Without further ado:


I. Hindsight Remains Golden

I remember waking up on Saturday morning, January 3, to find out that U.S. force plucked Venezuela’s then-president Nicolas Maduro right out of his bed, then flew out without losing a single service member. I mean, they yanked him like you see with one of those hooks in a cartoon ripping someone off of a stage.

President Who Stole Election Captured by U.S. Forces

Capt. Seth Keshel
·
Jan 3
President Who Stole Election Captured by U.S. Forces

I picked an interesting Saturday to roll over and try to go back to sleep. My plan was to write about the voter registration pattern in North Carolina, but not anymore. That pertains to future elections, whereas in the wee hours of this morning U.S. forces and law enforcement conducted a successful strike of Venezuela (including its capital, Caracas),…

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Another thing the Trump-deaf don’t get is how he refers to other people, like the interim president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez. She’s a member of Maduro’s party and, I’m confident, a pretty lousy person and even worse leader. Even so, she is referred to in writing by the most powerful man on Earth as “Highly Respected.”

Rodriguez and Trump almost certainly have the same thing in mind. She will do what he says, and if she doesn’t, she will wind up getting a free ride on the same aircraft that took Maduro on an unexpected red eye across the Western Hemisphere. As long as she says “yes sir” and we turn Venezuela into a resource-rich partner in our area of influence, she is great, wonderful, and “highly respected” - and most importantly, going nowhere.

This brings me to the question of Manifest Destiny. Few of us support these endless wars that have been popular for the past 60 years. This opposition got President Trump elected twice (three times, really), and right now we are watching the rest of the world pine for the United States to do the dying in Iran. I am confident there were larger plans in place months ago, but Europe is out, and no one in the Middle East has the resources to put men on the ground needed to topple a regime that manages, above all things, to survive.

But taking care of our own backyard is hardly a concept of endless wars or never-ending conflict. Trump’s success at practically zero cost to the United States will likely spur future like-minded administrations (including Trump’s own) to take action against other pariah states on our side of the map, such as Cuba. A Latin America with de facto alignment with an America First agenda is a powerful economic force against the powers of globalism and the emergence of other-than-friendly nations, like China.


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