This is Planet Money from NPR.
In the wake of news that the United States had captured and arrested the leader of Venezuela and would run the country for some amount of time,
one specific American company found itself suddenly in a very strange spotlight.
a huge meeting last week at the White House.
President Trump assembled basically the entire American oil industry to discuss his goal of turning Venezuela back into a booming petroleum exporter.
But Trump appeared to be looking out into the crowd for one company in particular.
Where's Chevron?
He asks.
No, I think you'd have a better location.
You were the only one that was there for for all that.
Yes, Chevron was there in Venezuela from the time that oil literally rained down on the country,
caused a boom and turned Venezuela into the biggest oil exporter in the world.
Chevron was there when that oil money transformed Venezuela into the first petro state and transformed Caracas into a gilded global capital.
But most notably,
Chevron kept being there when things went bad and when Venezuela took more and more of the oil industry away from foreign companies.
And so, in that White House room full of the most powerful oil executives on the planet,
Trump singled out Chevron's executive.
I used to call you and say, uh, what the hell's going on with Venezuela?
He stuck it out.
I don't know if you made money or not, but you stuck it out.