The agreement came together after the United States seized Venezuelan president Nicols Maduro, according to the Guardian. The outlet's investigation lays out a wide array of obstacles standing in the way of the deal ever functioning as Trump described it.
Trump has talked about seizing foreign oil for decades. Back in 1987, he told ABC's Barbara Walters that Iranian attacks on American shipping during the Iran-Iraq war justified the US taking Iranian oil along the coast. He asked her, "Why couldn't we go in and take over some of their oil, which is along the sea?"
For Venezuela, the stakes are enormous. The country holds some of the world's largest oil reserves. A deal framed as historic by a sitting US president carries weight well beyond the barrel count, but if the Guardian's reporting holds up, the celebrated agreement may never produce the outcome Trump promised.