President Trump says US will “run” Venezuela with “money coming out of the ground”
US President Donald Trump said he is temporarily placing Venezuela under US control after the US forcibly took President Nicolas Maduro to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.
“We’re going to run the country until the time comes when we can make a transition that’s safe, appropriate and prudent,” Trump said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We will not take the chance of someone else taking power in Venezuela who does not care about the Venezuelan people.”
Trump has said that as part of the oil takeover, major US oil companies will enter Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserves, to repair its badly damaged oil infrastructure, a process experts say could take years.
Critics said his focus on oil at the press conference raised questions about his administration’s efforts to orchestrate Maduro’s capture and a series of deadly missile strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a law enforcement operation aimed at cracking down on drug shipments to the US.
The US job “will not cost us a dime” said Trump, because the US will be reimbursed “from the money coming out of the ground”, referring to Venezuela’s oil reserves.
The idea that the country’s oil reserves could pay for an American invasion also recalls the 2003 Iraq war. During the invasion, US officials repeatedly said that the cost would be largely borne by Iraq’s assets, including its oil. Various academic estimates say that the true cost to the US of its years of intervention in Iraq ended up being at least US$2 trillion.
As part of a dramatic overnight operation that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas and included military installations, US Special Forces kidnapped Maduro from one of his safe houses, Trump said.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were transported to a US Navy ship at sea before being taken to the US on Saturday evening.
The video shows the plane landing at Stewart International Airport about 97 kilometers northwest of New York City, and a number of US workers boarding the plane after landing. A Justice Department official confirmed that Maduro had arrived in New York, and a video later showed dozens of people arriving at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn under police custody.
Maduro, who has been charged with various US crimes, including conspiracy to commit terrorism, is expected to make his first appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday, according to a Justice Department official. His wife also faces charges, including conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
It remains unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela. The American military does not have the power to control the country itself, and Maduro’s government seems not only to manage but also has no desire to cooperate with Washington. Trump did not say who will lead Venezuela if the US gives up control.
Maduro’s successor, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, appeared on Venezuelan television on Saturday afternoon with other high-ranking officials to criticize what he called “kidnapping”.
“We want the immediate release of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said, calling Maduro “the only president of Venezuela”. A Venezuelan court later ordered Rodriguez to take over as interim president.
In the US, experts question the legality of the campaign to seize a foreign head of state, while the Democrats, who said they were misled during the recent meetings, are looking for a plan for what will happen next.
In Venezuela, the streets were very calm on Saturday. The military patrolled some parts and small pro-Maduro crowds gathered in Caracas. Others expressed relief.
In his press conference, where he was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Trump did not give specific answers to repeated questions about how the United States will treat Venezuela, since its government and military are still active.
“The people who stand behind me” – like Rubio and Hegseth – will lead the country, Trump said, adding that he is ready to send US troops to Venezuela. “We are not afraid of boots on the ground,” he said.
Trump also closed the door on a deal with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, widely seen as a loyal opponent of Maduro. He said America had never contacted Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
“He does not get support from within or respect in the country,” he said in a press conference.
Trump has previously criticized US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling the invasion of Iraq a “big fat mistake” during the 2016 presidential debate, and said in 2021 he was “very proud to be the first president in decades not to start new wars.”
The United States has accused Maduro of running a “narco-state” and rigging the 2024 elections. Maduro, a former bus driver who was handpicked by the late Hugo Chavez to replace him in 2013, denied the allegations and said Washington intended to control his nation’s oil reserves.
