US will 'Run' Venezuela Until Political Transition - Trump

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Caption: A woman holds a portrait of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a gathering in Caracas on January 3, 2026, after US forces captured him. AFP/Federico Parra

PALM BEACH – President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States will “run” Venezuela until a political transition can occur, after the spectacular US military operation to remove Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro from the country.

“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump told a press conference, adding that US forces were ready to conduct a second, “much bigger” wave of strikes if necessary.

He said he would allow American oil companies to head into Venezuela to tap its massive crude reserves after a US military operation that seized the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro.

“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 told a press conference.

Trump also said “the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect.”

As part of a weeks-long military pressure campaign against Venezuela in the run-up to the raid, US forces seized at least two oil tankers that Washington said were subject to US sanctions.

Trump also warned other political and military figures in Venezuela, saying that “what happened to Maduro can happen to them.”

See links to AZP News coverage of US strikes in Venezuela:

US will ‘Run’ Venezuela Until Political Transition – Trump

T&T Airspace Remains Open

Police on Heightened Alert after US takes Maduro

Photo of Maduro in Custody: Trump Releases on Truth Social

Machado: Hour of Freedom is here

Venezuela Defence Minister Denounces US Military Intervention

‘Like a Television Show’: Trump Revels in Maduro’s Capture

‘Avoid Caribbean Airspace’

No más Maduro: Venezuelan President Captured as US Strikes Caracas

Kamla: T&T has Peaceful Relations with Venezuela

CARICOM Monitoring Venezuela Situation

PNM Committed to ‘Zone of Peace’

Venezuela has been under US oil sanctions since 2019. It produces about a million barrels of crude per day. It sells most on the black market at steep discounts.

Trump claims Caracas is using oil money to finance “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping.”

He said the US military caused a blackout in the Venezuelan capital Caracas so it could carry out a stunning operation to seize leader Nicolas Maduro.

“It was dark. The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have,” Trump told a press conference.

President Donald Trump posted a photo Saturday of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in custody on a US naval ship and wearing both a blindfold and handcuffs.

“Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, along with a picture showing Maduro hours after he was snatched by US forces.

The Venezuelan leader had on what appeared to be noise-canceling ear muffs and grey Nike-branded sweatpants and jacket.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores surrendered to US forces in Caracas, before being extracted from the country to face federal drug trafficking-related charges in New York, a top US general said Saturday.

“Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by our incredible US military with professionalism and precision, with no loss of US life,” General Dan Caine, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, told the press conference. (AFP)