The newspaper calculated that the United States had collected “about $13 billion” from Venezuelan oil sales since January. Trump had made a similar claim in June, when he said Venezuelan oil had reimbursed the United States for the operation 28 times over. Representative Ami Bera, a California Democrat, asked whether Rubio would give Congress access to the audit of Venezuela’s oil funds. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in April that the United States had sold about 150 million barrels of Venezuelan oil. Trump initially promised billions in private investment to revive Venezuela’s oil industry.