The Art of the Venezuela Oil Deal

The Art of the Venezuela Oil Deal

From Pod Save the World by Pod Save the World

September 2, 2026 · 1h 24m · Episode 536

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of a corrupt oil deal with Venezuela amidst the ongoing war with Iran and other geopolitical issues.

The war with Iran reaches six months, Trump’s Pentagon cuts a corrupt oil deal with Venezuela, and Russia makes an (unwelcome) surprise appearance at a G20 meeting. Tommy and Ben mark six months of the war with Iran, including the death toll, damage to the global economy, and reports that Trump may implement a "mow the grass" forever war strategy. Pete Hegseth is clearly losing the confidence of military leaders as the Secretary of the Army resigns and the Washington Post reports that top military commanders are pushing back on his management of the war. Then Trump announces that the US government is taking a 35% stake in a Venezuelan oil company. The guys walk through why the deal wouldn’t benefit either average Americans or Venezuelans, why it’s doomed to fail, and how the corrupt business partner Alejandro Betancourt is a perfect symbol of Trump’s smash-and-grab foreign policy. Also discussed: the US hosts a G20 finance meeting in North Carolina and invites Russia, Israel’s National Security Minister posts a sickening AI video, what we know about the catastrophic glacial collapse in Nepal that killed more than 900 people, Iceland’s vote against restarting EU membership talks…

People in this episode

Hosts: Tommy, Ben

Guest: David Eby

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Washington Post, G20

Places: Venezuela, United States, North Carolina, Nepal, Iceland, Lake Ontario, South Korea

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