Trump says “we’re going to run” Venezuela after Maduro’s capture until peaceful transition takes place

Washington — President Trump said Saturday the U.S. would “run the country” of Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition” after President Nicolás Maduro was captured in an overnight military operation. 

Mr. Trump said in remarks from Mar-a-Lago that the U.S. carried out an “assault like people have not seen since World War II” in Venezuela. While Mr. Trump said “we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so,” he said he did not believe a “second wave” would be necessary. He added that no U.S. service members were killed. 

“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” Mr. Trump said. “But we’re going to make sure that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain.” He added, “We’re going to be running it with a group and we’re going to make sure it’s run properly.”

Mr. Trump said running Venezuela “won’t cost us anything” because the U.S. would be reimbursed in oil money.

“We’re going to be taking a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” he said. 

Venezuela has one of the world’s largest known oil reserves and was a founding member of OPEC, though its industry has suffered under years of mismanagement, corruption and sanctions. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that despite its vast reserves, Venezuela produced just 0.8% of total global crude oil in 2023.

“We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars, it will be paid for by the oil companies directly,” Mr. Trump said. “And we’re going to get the oil flowing the way it should be.”

Mr. Trump said the oil embargo on Venezuela currently remains in effect, and the American naval armada remains in position. He said the U.S. will retain all military options until all demands are met.

Mr. Trump said the vice president who had been appointed by Maduro has been sworn in, but the U.S. would have a presence in Venezuela. 

When asked to clarify if this meant the U.S. military would have a presence in Venezuela, Mr. Trump said there would be a military presence “because of oil.” 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the overnight operation a “massive joint military and law enforcement raid that was flawlessly executed.” 

Mr. Trump had said Maduro and his wife were flown out of Venezuela after the U.S. carried out a “large scale strike.” Calling into “Fox and Friends” on Saturday morning, he said Maduro had been “in a very highly guarded, like a fortress actually.” 

The president also confirmed that Maduro was being taken to New York, after Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier in the day that Maduro had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on narco-terrorism charges. Bondi said Maduro and his wife “will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

“They’ll be heading to New York,” Mr. Trump said. “They were indicted in New York.”

Shortly before addressing reporters at Mar-a-Lago late Saturday morning, Mr. Trump shared a photo he said was Maduro on board the USS Iowa Jima. 

In an indictment filed against the Venezuelan leader in 2020, federal prosecutors alleged that Maduro and other senior Venezuelan government officials collaborated with the Colombian guerrilla group Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or FARC, to traffic cocaine and weapons to the United States. Later Saturday morning, Bondi shared a superseding indictment. 

The indictment, prepared by U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton, accuses Maduro of conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and to import cocaine, and of possessing and conspiring to possess “Machineguns and Destructive Devices.” The charges appear to be the same as a 2020 indictment of Maduro and several key aides. 

Mr. Trump said Maduro was in a house when he was captured, saying it was “more like a fortress than a house.” 

“It had steel doors, it had, what they call a safety space where it’s, you know, solid steel all around,” he said. “He didn’t get that space closed. He was trying to get into it but he got bum-rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that. We were prepared, we had, you know, massive blow torches and everything else that you need to get through that steel, but we didn’t need it. He didn’t make it to that area of the house.”

Mr. Trump praised the operation in Venezuela, saying he thinks no U.S. troops were killed. 

“You know that we had nobody killed was amazing,” he said. “I think we had nobody killed, I have to say, because a couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape.”

The president said the U.S. was prepared to carry out the Venezuela operation days ago, but waited for the weather conditions to improve.

“We were going to do this four days ago but the weather was not perfect,” Mr. Trump said. “And then all of a sudden it opened up and we said go.”