Donald Trump has sweeping plans for a second administration. Here’s what he’s proposed

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Trump's secret oil baron

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Getty Images and Wikimedia Commons

President Trump's historic Venezuelan oil deal revolves around a colorful and controversial man from Caracas with a long history of supporting U.S. interests — including the operation to remove former strongman Nicolás Maduro, Axios' Marc Caputo writes. Why it matters: Alejandro Betancourt, 46, runs the oil company that's entering into an unprecedented partnership with the Pentagon. It gives America access to some of Venezuela's vast oil fields at a time when U.S. reserves are low. A U.S. official told Axios: "No Betancourt, no energy-security deal. And Maduro might still be in power if it wasn't for him." Betancourt's life story has an oil-like boom-and-bust aura, replete with billion-dollar deals, international intrigue, a longstanding money-laundering probe and even a Spanish castle raided by authorities. 👀 Inside the room: As Trump demanded Maduro leave Venezuela last year, Betancourt played a crucial role in gauging whether Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez would run the government as a replacement. "There was no direct ask from Alejandro to Delcy; it was more getting a sense on where her head was at," said a second U.S. official briefed on the private talks between the two Venezuelans. Betancourt was in regular contact with Trump's unofficial Venezuela fixer, Mauricio Claver-Carone, and discussed how to keep oil flowing and the economy running in post-Maduro Venezuela. The backstory: Betancourt's relationship with the U.S. government began in Trump's first term, when the administration declared Maduro an illegitimate president. Trump became the first world leader to recognize the head of Venezuela's national assembly, Juan Guaidó, as the nation's rightful leader in 2019. Betancourt acted as a go-between, linking Maduro's opposition with Venezuelan political figures and top-level military officials to build domestic support for a nonviolent, democratic transition to a Guaidó government, said an opposition figure and Guaidó's brother, Gustavo Guaidó. 🔎 Behind the scenes: Betancourt, Rodríguez and officials from the State Department and the Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital had a handshake agreement on the oil deal by mid-August. Under its terms, officials say: Venezuela receives between 16% and 40% of production, depending on the oil field. It also gets income taxes. The U.S. puts no money into the deal, has a 35% equity stake and gets 20% of the after-tax oil at production cost. That's about $30 a barrel (crude was priced at $90 yesterday). Betancourt's North American Blue Energy Partners gets access to 17 fields and the implied backing of the U.S. military. "No other oilman can say he has the Pentagon on his side," a U.S. official told Axios.

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💡 Why Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned

Two key reasons led to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll's resignation, announced yesterday: the feeling that his modernization initiatives were being blocked, and the chaos created by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's firing of senior generals, U.S. officials tell Axios' Colin Demarest and Barak Ravid.

• Why it matters: Driscoll's wartime resignation, on top of Hegseth's firing of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George this spring, leaves the military's largest service without Senate-confirmed leadership, civilian or uniformed.

🪖 Behind the scenes: Driscoll recently spoke with President Trump and expressed his concerns about the state of the Army. Another person described the situation to Axios simply: "Sad."

• A White House official said Driscoll was asked to stay longer, until after midterms. But Driscoll told the White House he felt like it was time for him to go.
• Driscoll is expected to leave the Pentagon in the coming days, according to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported his resignation.

The intrigue: Driscoll was a rising star in the Trump administration but had an icy relationship with Hegseth. Some U.S. officials say the defense secretary "was suspicious and paranoid" toward Driscoll, partly because of Driscoll's close relationship with Vice President JD Vance, a classmate at Yale Law.

• Driscoll and George were advocates of the Army Transformation Initiative, which sought to combine two commands — the Futures Command and the Training and Doctrine Command — and cut big-name weaponry, including the AH-64D Apache, M10 Booker and Gray Eagle drone.

🖼️ The big picture: Driscoll, nicknamed "drone guy" for his work on military modernization, had a meteoric rise in the Trump administration after the president nominated him to be Army secretary.

• Driscoll's juice was boosted partly by his willingness to engage media outside the Pentagon's preferred conservative press pool and an expansive travel circuit. He garnered some Democratic support during his confirmation process, with 16 Democrats backing him.

Go deeper.

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Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, White House says Driscoll is stepping down after 18 months on the job, the White House said Monday, in the latest departure of a top military leader during the Trump administration. Read more.

Why this matters: No reason was given for Driscoll’s departure, but tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have been widely reported. It marks the latest in a series of shakeups of the military leadership, with the Army especially seeing major upheaval.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤ WATCH: Trump brushes off Hegseth 2028 speculation US military has no plans to send troops to the polls in November, top general says New US missile appears to have left wide path of death and destruction in Iranian city, report says Days after Trump announces Venezuela oil deal, White House fills in some of the details Battleground Republicans still waiting for Trump to open his campaign wallet What to expect in the Massachusetts state primary Kalshi bans ex-Congressman George Santos for life after concluding he likely was insider trading Supreme Court lets White House continue construction on Trump’s $400 million ballroom

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Judge calls Trump mail ballot rule ‘substantively unconstitutional’ as court battle extends

A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday declined the Trump administration’s request to overturn the temporary restraining order she signed last week that blocks the U.S. Postal Service from carrying out a rule placing new restrictions on mail-in voting.

https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/08/31/repub/judge-calls-trump-mail-ballot-rule-substantively-unconstitutional-as-court-battle-extends/?

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📍1 for the road: MapQuest takeover

Photo: Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images 📱 MapQuest (remember them?) skyrocketed to the top of Apple's app store after defying President Trump's call to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America." The app surpassed Google Maps and Apple Maps in the app store, TechCrunch reports. Read MapQuest's release. ps:Good for them!!!!!

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Oil giant Chevron is expected to announce it will expand operations in Venezuela, US official says

Oil giant Chevron is planning to expand its operations in Venezuela, a U.S. official said Tuesday, just days after President Donald Trump announced an ambitious deal to develop the nation's oil reserves and give the Pentagon a stake in the profits. Read More.