U.S. to ‘run’ Venezuela until ‘safe transition’ – Trump

Jan 04, 2026 News

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…as Nicolás Maduro and wife captured, transported to U.S. for prosecution
…says U.S. has big plans for Venezuelan oil

(Kaieteur News) – The United States of America is gearing-up to “run” Venezuela, now that the country’s President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured by the U.S. army and transported to America to face narco-terrorism charges.

Maduro and Flores were apprehended by U.S. forces early Saturday morning and were flown to the United States, where they are to face multiple criminal charges. The announcement of the successful operation by the U.S. military was made on Saturday morning by President Donald Trump.

In a post to X (formerly Twitter) the American president said, “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.”

With Maduro now in U.S. custody, the country’s Attorney General Pamela Bondi disclosed that Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the Southern District of New York.

“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said in a post on X. Maduro is expected to face the court on Monday. He has been charged with NarcoTerrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.

Following the military operation, President Trump held a press conference where he disclosed plans for the U.S. to “run” Venezuela until, “we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.” He also disclosed America’s ambitious plans for the oil-rich nation resources.

RUN Venezuela

Trump said the U.S. would assume control of Venezuela’s governance until the proper transition to prevent the emergence of another hostile administration.

He added, “So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. And it has to be judicious because that’s what we’re all about. We want peace, liberty, and justice for the great people of Venezuela.

We can’t take a chance at somebody else takes over Venezuela, that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind. Had decades of that. We’re not going to let that happen.”

Trump said a designated group, to be named at a later date, will be tasked with managing Venezuela’s affairs until the transition. While he expressed a desire for elections to be held “quickly,” he said the country’s deteriorated oil infrastructure would first need to be addressed, noting the task of rebuilding the country’s oil infrastructure will take some time.

“We have to rebuild their whole infrastructure. The infrastructure is rotted. It’s actually very dangerous… Oil is very dangerous. It’s a very dangerous thing to take out of the ground, can kill a lot of people…the infrastructure is old, its rotted. Much of it is stuff that we put there 25 years ago and we’re going to be replacing it and we’re going to take a lot of money out so that we can take care of the country,” he responded.

‘Take back our oil’ – Trump

During the press conference, President Trump outlined the U.S. plans for Venezuela’s oil sector, claiming previous Venezuelan governments unlawfully seized American-built oil assets.

“We built Venezuela oil industry with American talent, drive, and skill and the socialist regime stole it from us during those previous administrations, Venezuela unilaterally seized and sold American oil, American assets, and American platforms, costing us billions and billions of dollars. They did this a while ago, but we never had a president that did anything about it. They took all of our property was our property… We couldn’t let them get away with it. You know, they stole our oil. We built that whole industry there and they just took it over like we were nothing,” Trump said.

He described the seizure as “one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country.”

According to him, now that the U.S. is in control, large American oil companies would be heading to Venezuela to repair infrastructure and restore production. He noted that the oil companies’ investment will be covered by oil revenues rather than U.S. taxpayers’ dollars.

Moreover, in a message directed to Venezuelan civilians, Trump promised peace, security and economic prosperity. He insisted the proceeds from oil production would be used to support Venezuelan citizens and those who fled the country. “We’re going to make sure the people of Venezuela are taken care of,” he said.

When asked about China, Russia and Iran’s interests in Venezuela, Trump said oil would continue to be sold internationally once production increases. He also noted, “We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world and we want to make sure we can protect it.”

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• Donald Trump, narco-terrorism, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan, Venezuelan oil

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