{"id":671989,"date":"2026-01-03T21:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/671989\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T21:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:51:10","slug":"trump-says-us-will-run-venezuela-after-ousting-maduro-in-military-attack-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/671989\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says US will \u2018run\u2019 Venezuela after ousting Maduro in military attack | Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump has vowed that the US is \u201cgoing to run\u201d Venezuela until there is an orderly transition of power but provided few details after ousting the country\u2019s leader, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a>, in an audacious military attack.<\/p>\n

Speaking at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday, the president hailed an overnight operation that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as \u201can assault like people have not seen since world war two\u201d.<\/p>\n

But the dramatic intervention was condemned by Democrats on Capitol Hill and several leaders around the world as the most dangerous example of US imperialism since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.<\/p>\n

Trump, who campaigned for the presidency with a promise end foreign wars, did nothing to quell those fears when he told reporters that the US would be temporarily seizing control of Venezuela<\/a> and its oil infrastructure.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,\u201d the president said. \u201cWe can\u2019t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn\u2019t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind \u2026 We\u2019re going to run it, essentially, until such time as a proper transition can take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maduro, a 63-year-old former bus driver handpicked by the dying Hugo Ch\u00e1vez to succeed him in 2013, has accused the US of seeking to take control of his nation\u2019s oil reserves, the biggest in the world.<\/p>\n

At his press conference, Trump said: \u201cWe\u2019re going to have our very large US 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 and we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n

It remained unclear how Trump plans to administer Venezuela. Despite the overnight operation that knocked out electricity in part of Caracas and captured Maduro in or near one of his safe houses, US forces have no control over the country itself, and Maduro\u2019s government appears to still be in charge.<\/p>\n

Trump said the US would run Venezuela \u201cwith a group\u201d and would be \u201cdesignating various people\u201d in charge while pointing to the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio; the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth; and the joint chiefs of staff chair, Gen Dan \u201cRazin\u201d Caine, behind him.<\/p>\n

He failed to elaborate but said he was open to the idea of sending US forces into Venezuela. \u201cWe\u2019re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have. We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level, actually. We\u2019re not afraid of it. We don\u2019t mind saying it but we\u2019re going to make sure that country is run properly. We\u2019re not doing this in vain,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

A US occupation \u201cwon\u2019t cost us a penny\u201d because the US would be reimbursed from the \u201cmoney coming out of the ground\u201d, Trump said, referring to Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves.<\/p>\n

But the remarks are likely to cause consternation among some of Trump\u2019s die-hard supporters who, haunted by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, have embraced his \u201cAmerica first\u201d commitment to stop sending troops to fight and die abroad.<\/p>\n

Trump also said Rubio had been in touch with the Venezuelan vice-president, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez. \u201cWe\u2019ll do whatever you need,\u201d Trump quoted Rodriguez as saying. \u201cShe really doesn\u2019t have a choice,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

But a few hours later, the president\u2019s claim was undermined by Rodr\u00edguez, who, in a televised address, maintained the critical tone adopted by all members of Maduro\u2019s cabinet since the first reports of the US bombardment.<\/p>\n

She described the US attack as an \u201cunprecedented military aggression\u201d, and demanded the \u201cimmediate release\u201d of Maduro and his wife. The Venezuelan people \u201care outraged by the illegal and illegitimate kidnapping of the president and the first lady\u201d, Rodr\u00edguez said.<\/p>\n

The Venezuelan vice-president insisted that the country \u201cwill never again be anyone\u2019s colony \u2013 neither of old empires, nor of new empires, nor of empires in decline\u201d.<\/p>\n

She also echoed an argument repeatedly made by Maduro before his capture: that the real objective of the four-month-long US military<\/a> pressure had never been a supposed \u201cwar on drugs\u201d, but rather \u201cregime change\u201d and the \u201cseizure of our energy, mineral and natural resources\u201d.<\/p>\n

At his earlier press conference earlier, Trump said he \u201cunderstood she was just sworn in\u201d as Venezuela\u2019s new president. Rodr\u00edguez, however, repeatedly stressed that Maduro \u201cis the only president of Venezuela. There is only one president in this country, and his name is Nicol\u00e1s Maduro Moros.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maduro was indicted in US federal court in 2020 on narco-terrorism and other charges for running what prosecutors called a scheme to send tons of cocaine to the US through an alleged Cartel de los Soles. He has always denied the allegations.<\/p>\n

In the run-up to the attack, Trump had sought a blockade of Venezuelan oil and expanded sanctions against the Maduro government, and staged more than two dozen strikes on vessels the US alleges were involved in trafficking drugs, killing more than 110 people.<\/p>\n

At around 2am on Saturday, explosions rocked Caracas with blasts, aircraft and black smoke seen for about 90 minutes. The Venezuelan government said the attacks also took place in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.<\/p>\n

The operation involved a joint force of over 150 aircraft and special operations teams, and was executed without any US casualties or loss of equipment. The apprehension force arrived at Maduro\u2019s compound and came under fire, replying with \u201coverwhelming force\u201d. Maduro was captured while attempting to reach a steel-reinforced safe room but was unable to close the door in time.<\/p>\n

Maduro and his wife had been whisked by helicopters to the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious assault ship in the Caribbean<\/a>, ahead of their transfer to New York. Trump said: \u201cThe illegitimate dictator Maduro was the kingpin of a vast criminal network \u2026 responsible for the deaths of countless Americans. Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US has not made such a direct intervention in its back-yard region since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago to depose the military leader Manuel Noriega over similar allegations.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s ruling \u201cChavismo\u201d movement, named for Maduro\u2019s revered predecessor Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, said civilians and military personnel died in Saturday\u2019s strikes but did not give figures.<\/p>\n

The opposition, headed by recent Nobel peace prize winner Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, had no immediate comment but has said for 18 months that it won the 2024 election and has a democratic right to take power.<\/p>\n

But Trump said Machado didn\u2019t have the \u201csupport within or the respect within the country\u201d when he was asked if she would be a potential interim leader now.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s press conference in Florida struck a triumphalist tone. Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, said: \u201cNicol\u00e1s Maduro had his chance, just like Iran had their chance \u2013 until they didn\u2019t and until he didn\u2019t. He effed around and he found out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubio insisted that it had been impractical to inform Congress of such a delicate operation in advance. But Democrats roundly condemned the intervention. Chuck Schumer, the minority leader in the Senate, said: \u201cThe idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans. The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bernie Sanders, an independent senator for Vermont, said Trump and his administration \u201chave spoken openly about controlling Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves, the largest in the world. This is rank imperialism. It recalls the darkest chapters of US interventions in Latin America, which have left a terrible legacy. It will and should be condemned by the democratic world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Venezuelan allies Russia, Cuba and Iran were quick to criticize the strikes as a violation of sovereignty. Argentina\u2019s president, Javier Milei, lauded Venezuela\u2019s new \u201cfreedom\u201d, while Mexico condemned the intervention and Brazil\u2019s president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva said it crossed \u201can unacceptable line\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump has vowed that the US is \u201cgoing to run\u201d Venezuela until there is an orderly transition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-671989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115833384748255992","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}