WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump has issued a new directive regarding Venezuelan oil revenues, aimed at safeguarding these funds from being entangled in legal disputes.

The executive order, unveiled on Saturday, indicates that any such financial seizures could potentially “threaten vital U.S. initiatives to foster stability both economically and politically in Venezuela.”

This move comes amid warnings from leading oil industry figures who caution that Venezuela’s current instability may deter private investments and hinder reconstruction efforts.

“Given the current commercial structures and regulations in Venezuela, the environment is not conducive to investment,” remarked ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods during a Friday meeting with Trump and oil executives.

In response to these apprehensions, Trump reassured the industry leaders, promising that they would engage directly with U.S. authorities, circumventing the Venezuelan government entirely.

Venezuela has a history of state asset seizures, ongoing U.S. sanctions and decades of political uncertainty.

Getting U.S. oil companies to invest in Venezuela and help rebuild the country’s infrastructure is a top priority of the Trump administration after the dramatic capture of now-deposed leader Nicolás Maduro.

The White House is framing the effort to “run” Venezuela in economic terms, and Trump has seized tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, has said the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan crude, and plans to control sales worldwide indefinitely.

“I love the Venezuelan people, and am already making Venezuela rich and safe again,” Trump, who is currently in southern Florida, wrote on his social media site on Saturday. “Congratulations and thank you to all of those people who are making this possible!!!”

The order says the oil revenue is property of Venezuela that is being held by the United States for “governmental and diplomatic purposes” and not subject to private claims.

Its legal underpinnings are the National Emergencies Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump, in the order, says the possibility that the oil revenues could be caught up in judicial proceedings constitutes an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the U.S.