<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until a transition could be organised, hours after a US operation captured leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, ousting the strongman from power after months of mounting military and economic pressure on his regime.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,\u201d Trump said Saturday at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we don\u2019t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read: Gold rises toward record as traders watch US data and Venezuela [17 Dec]<\/p>\n
Trump said the US administration of Venezuela would include deploying US oil companies to the country, though indicated that his embargo \u201con all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect\u201d and that US forces would stay on alert.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
But the president offered few other details on how he planned to administer the country, saying it would be done \u201cwith a group\u201d largely comprised of senior US officials and with an emphasis on repairing oil infrastructure and making sure the people of Venezuela were \u201calso taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nSecretary of State Marco Rubio had been in recent contact with Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, the US president said, adding he expected her cooperation going forward.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cShe had a long conversation with Marco, and she said, \u2018We\u2019ll do whatever you need,\u2019\u201d Trump said. \u201cI think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn\u2019t have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if US boots would be on the ground, Trump said he was \u201cnot afraid\u201d of the idea to make sure the country was run properly.<\/p>\n
Maduro and his wife were traveling via ship to New York to face an indictment on alleged drug trafficking, weapons and conspiracy charges, the US president said. He added that no Americans were killed and no US military equipment was lost in the mission to capture the Venezuelan leader, calling it \u201can assault like people have not seen since World War Two.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nThe attack offered the latest dramatic demonstration of Trump\u2019s willingness in his second term to deploy US military power to achieve his foreign policy aims with sweeping implications for both Venezuela, a nation with vast oil reserves, and the region.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Trump said the US had been prepared to carry out a \u201csecond wave\u201d of strikes if needed but that was now probably not necessary. \u201cThe American armada remains poised in position, and the United States retains all military options until United States demands have been fully met and fully satisfied,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Trump foreign policy<\/strong><\/p>\n
Trump cast the move as in line with longstanding US foreign policy, citing the Monroe Doctrine asserting American influence over the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n
The president and other officials seemed to suggest that Cuba could be at risk of a similar military action, with the president saying that the countries were \u201cvery similar in the sense that we want to help the people in Cuba, but we want to also help the people that were forced out of Cuba and living in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cLook, I lived in Havana, and I was in the government, I\u2019d be concerned, at least,\u201d Rubio added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
But Trump also emphasized that his decision was driven by his conviction that Venezuelan leaders had \u201cstolen\u201d US investment in the country\u2019s energy sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe built Venezuela oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us during those previous administrations, and they stole it through force. This constituted one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Asked about how the strike would impact US relations with China, Russia, Iran and other nations that have interests in Venezuela, Trump highlighted the country\u2019s energy riches and a desire to do business with others.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, Russia, when we get things straightened out, but in terms of other countries that want oil, we\u2019re in the oil business. We\u2019re going to sell it to them. We\u2019re not going to say otherwise, we\u2019ll be selling oil, probably in much larger doses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Interim team<\/h3>\n
Trump was joined by officials including Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine. Trump said Hegseth and Rubio would be part of the team running the country and said that the secretary of State had been in touch with Venezuela\u2019s vice president.<\/p>\n
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\nTrump earlier Saturday urged supporters of Maduro still in the country to shift their allegiances, saying \u201cif they stay loyal, the future\u2019s really bad for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
He also issued a warning over the state of Americans detained by the Maduro regime, saying they had let officials know \u201cthat you better not touch one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Trump also appeared to cast doubt on opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado running the country, suggesting he did not see her as a viable replacement for Maduro.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn\u2019t have the support within or the respect within the country,\u201d he said. \u201cShe\u2019s a very nice woman, but she doesn\u2019t have the respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump said he did not know the whereabouts of Machado, who is in an unknown location, and indicated he had not been in contact with her.<\/p>\n
Read:
Trump moves to rename Defense Department as Department of War [Sept 2025]
Oil holds gain as traders focus on Venezuela, Black Sea outage [2 Dec]<\/p>\nMachado on X earlier Saturday said the Venezuelan opposition was ready to assume power, calling for Edmundo Gonzalez \u2014 her stand-in candidate in recent elections \u2014 to take office and urging the armed forces to recognize him.<\/p>\n
Asked for his message to the Venezuelan people, Trump said: \u201cYou\u2019re going to have peace, justice. You\u2019re going to have some of the riches that you should have had for a long period of time, it was stolen from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal charges<\/h3>\n
Trump long framed his campaign against Maduro as focused on threats from drugs and terrorism. Successive US administrations have assailed the Venezuelan president as an illegitimate leader whose policies spurred hyperinflation, severe food and medical shortages and the exodus of more than 8 million Venezuelans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe illegitimate dictator Maduro was the kingpin of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs into the United States,\u201d Trump said Saturday, pledging that the deposed leader and his wife would face the \u201cfull might of American justice and stand trial on American soil.\u201d<\/p>\n
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Saturday that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been indicted, with the Venezuelan leader facing charges of \u201cNarco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machine Guns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machine guns and Destructive Devices against the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nCaine offered details on the military operation, saying the strike was the result of months of intelligence work and carried out by more than 150 aircraft, including F-22s, F-35s, F-18s and B-1 bombers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The attack also included \u201cnumerous remotely piloted drones\u201d and was undertaken at night to minimize the potential for civilian casualties and to amp up the element of surprise.<\/p>\n
A helicopter force approached Maduro\u2019s compound shortly after 1 a.m. Washington time, 2 a.m. in Caracas, taking fire, Caine said, damaging one helicopter. Maduro and his wife \u201cgave up\u201d and were taken into US custody, the Joint Chiefs chair said.<\/p>\n
Capturing Maduro marks an unprecedented intervention and a stunning fall for a leader who became president in 2013. It risks destabilizing a country wracked by economic, political and social turmoil, in a region already on edge. Recent weeks saw the US carry out strikes on purported drug-trafficking boats and implement a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela.<\/p>\n
\nSaturday\u2019s operation prompted condemnations from Maduro supporters including Russia\u2019s foreign ministry and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who called for a United Nations Security Council meeting.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the \u201cact of armed aggression,\u201d saying that it\u2019s important to avoid further escalation.<\/p>\n
Trump allies including Argentina President Javier Milei celebrated the news.<\/p>\n
Some Democratic lawmakers took to social media to criticize the military operation before the capture of Maduro had been announced. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in a post on X\u00a0that he had spoken with Rubio and expected \u201cfurther briefings from the administration.\u201d He called Maduro\u2019s apprehension through a Justice Department warrant \u201can important first step to bring him to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump pushed back on criticism over not going to Congress, saying it had a tendency to leak classified information and that he wanted to avoid that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to say they knew we were coming at some point. You know, a lot of ships out there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a02026\u00a0Bloomberg<\/p>\n
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