President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday plan to visit Texas, where they will visit an oil tanker filled with Venezuelan crude, according to a U.S. official granted anonymity to talk about the plans.
The visit to the oil tanker comes the same day Trump is set to rally supporters at two events in Corpus Christi and Lubbock — two of the state’s energy centers — as he tries to gin up GOP enthusiasm in the tight Senate contest there between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.
The U.S. official said that the secretary is traveling with the president in his capacity as national security adviser and is not expected to speak at either rally.
Still, the tour of the oil tanker is likely to spotlight the Venezuelan oil deal the president secured in August, which gave the U.S. majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of oil reserves in the country.
The president has touted the deal as among several steps he’s taken to lower gas prices amid ongoing frustrations over the impact of the Iran war on voters’ pocketbooks.
The trip is notable for Rubio, who unlike other Cabinet officials has not been stumping for the president on the campaign trail and instead has been focused on his portfolio as secretary of State.
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