Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela until transition of power
Donald Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela until a transition of power takes place after American forces captured strongman leader Nicolás Maduro in a dramatic seizure in Caracas on Saturday.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday, Trump said that the US would take control of the South American country “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”.
He added that he was “not afraid of boots on the ground” in Venezuela, and said that the US was “talking to people” and “designating people” to run the country.
His comments came hours after he confirmed in a post on Truth Social that US forces had captured Maduro and his wife and launched air strikes on the Venezuelan capital.
Maduro has been indicted in a federal court in New York and faces charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy. He arrived at a US military base in upstate New York late on Saturday.
Top Republicans including vice-president JD Vance have defended the legality of the move, which was not approved by congress and has been criticised by Democrats.
Maduro’s capture, which Trump called an “extraordinary success”, marks the culmination of months of escalating pressure from Washington on his regime, including strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Trump on Saturday hailed the operation as one of “the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history”.
He added: “We’re 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.”
Trump also said the US wanted “peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela”, including people living in the US who “want to go back to their country”.
Venezuelan vice-president Delcy Rodríguez appeared on state television on Saturday afternoon alongside the country’s defence and foreign ministers, calling for Maduro and his wife to be released from US custody.
“We will defend the dignity of a people that cannot be given away,” Rodríguez said. “We will not be anyone’s colony, what is being done to Venezuela is barbaric.”
JD Vance absent from Mar-a-Lago over security concerns, spokesperson says
One member of the President Donald Trump’s inner circle was notably absent during his press conference from Mar-a-Lago Saturday morning: vice-president JD Vance.
A spokesperson for the vice-president confirmed that while Vance had “briefly met” Trump earlier in the day in West Palm Beach, Florida, “to discuss the strikes,” the vice-president was not at Mar-a-Lago on Friday night.
“The National Security team was concerned a late-night motorcade movement by the vice-president while the operation was getting underway may tip off the Venezuelans,” the spokesperson said, adding Vance “joined by secure video conference throughout the night to monitor the operation” and returned to Cincinnati, Ohio — where he has a family home — after the operation concluded.
“Due to increased security concerns, the administration has aimed to limit the frequency and duration of the vice-president and president being co-located away from the White House,” the spokesperson added.
During Trump’s press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Saturday morning, he was flanked by secretary of state Marco Rubio, defence secretary Pete Hegseth, top military official Dan Caine, CIA director John Ratcliffe and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller.
Macron backs Venezuela opposition leader’s call to free political prisoners
France’s President Emmanuel Macron said he has spoken with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado and supported her calls for the release of the Maduro regime’s political prisoners.
“She can count on France’s support to carry the voice of a peaceful, democratic transition that fully respects the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people,” Emmanuel Macron wrote on X on Saturday night.