President Donald Trump indicated prolonged U.S. involvement in Venezuela following the U.S. military’s capture of Nicolas Maduro to face drug charges in New York.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump stated that U.S. officials would take control and didn’t hesitate to consider deploying troops to the country.
“We will oversee the country until we can execute a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” he stated.
Trump also proposed that the U.S. would utilize Venezuela’s oil wealth to fund the mission and compensate American companies that once operated there but had their assets seized by Maduro’s socialist government.
Additionally, he forecasted that U.S. energy firms would invest billions to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure and increase production. Trump also noted that the U.S. oil embargo on Venezuela would stay in place.
He indicated that the U.S. State Department and Pentagon would manage Venezuela with the collaboration of Maduro government officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been communicating with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who told him, “we’ll do whatever you need,” Trump revealed.
“I think she was very cooperative, but she really has no other option,” he added. “We’re going to get this right. We won’t just handle Maduro and then leave like everyone else—walk away and let things fall apart. If we left now, there’s no chance it would ever recover. We’ll manage it correctly. We’ll manage it professionally.”
Trump dismissed opposition leader María Corina Machado, a 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner, as a viable new leader, claiming she doesn’t have sufficient domestic support. Machado, for her part, stated on social media that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia—whom the opposition asserts won last year’s election—“must immediately take up his constitutional mandate” as president.
When asked about the future role of the U.S. military and whether there would be troops deployed, Trump didn’t rule out the possibility.
“We aren’t afraid of deploying troops,” he said. “We don’t fear it. We don’t mind saying it, and we’re going to ensure that country is managed correctly. We aren’t doing this for nothing.”
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine informed reporters that U.S. forces remain in the region at a heightened state of readiness.
Trump stated that the military is prepared to launch another, far larger operation if needed, but noted that this seems unlikely given the success of the first strike. He added that the U.S. fleet gathered in the region will stay in place until U.S. demands “have been fully met and fully satisfied.”
Based on his comments, U.S. involvement is currently focused on the energy sector. Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but production has declined and the economy has crumbled due to U.S. sanctions and Maduro’s poor governance.
“We will have a presence in Venezuela related to oil,” Trump said. “We’re sending in our expertise—you might need some, but not much. Now we’re going to extract a tremendous amount of wealth from the ground, and that wealth will go to the people of Venezuela and those who used to be in Venezuela from outside. It will also go to the United States as reimbursement for the damages that country caused us.”