Ruddy to Schmitt: Trump 'Liberator' of Latin America

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy, standing near a monument to Simon Bolivar in Caracas, Venezuela, on Friday lauded President Donald Trump as "a new great liberator" and said the president "miraculously overthrew a regime" in Venezuela "without an invasion."

"We're here in the shadow of the great monument to Simon Bolivar, the great liberator. It's right up here, the great liberator of Latin America. And he's a hero, right?" Ruddy told Newsmax host Rob Schmitt, who is in Venezuela to conduct exclusive interviews with the nation's leadership.

"We now have a new great liberator, Donald Trump," said Ruddy. "President Trump almost miraculously overthrew a regime, the Chavez-Maduro regime, which had been entrenched for over 25 years."

Nobody, he added, "thought that we could ever remove them and he did it without an invasion. Just one military strike. Boom. It was done."

Ruddy said Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have Venezuela on a pathway to success, adding that the people he and Schmitt have been speaking with are enthusiastic about the direction in which the country is headed.

"Normally, you think the country would be upset that that happened," Ruddy said. "But, you know, you and I have been talking to people here across the plaza and across the country. They're really excited about what President Trump is doing. They're excited about Marco Rubio, so involved here."

Schmitt, who joined with Ruddy to speak live from Caracas on Newsmax's "Bianca Across the Nation," described the scene as "surreal" and compared the setting to the U.S. West Coast.

"Caracas, Venezuela. Kind of feels like California. Beautiful place," Schmitt said. "But it's again, a very interesting place to be right now."

Schmitt said it had been 35 days since "Nicolas Maduro, the leader of this country, was taken by Delta forces and brought back to New York to face drug charges."

Newsmax, he said, has traveled to Venezuela to assess conditions after the dramatic change.

"So we wanted to come down here and just see the state of this country as it is," Schmitt said. "That's a very destabilizing thing for a country to go through. And what we found is that it's pretty stable."

He said many people they encountered seemed optimistic after years of decline.

"We're talking to a lot of people that seem very hopeful about what the future could look like for this once very prosperous, very wealthy country that's kind of been trampled by socialism for the last 25 years," Schmitt said.

Ruddy said Venezuela's economic potential, including energy and minerals, could benefit both the U.S. and Venezuelans.

"I think it's going to open up," Ruddy said. "This is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources, oil, and critical minerals.

"So it's a huge boon to the United States, but also the people of Venezuela, and I think it's going to start something really big," he said.

Schmitt said the network is seeking interviews with Venezuelan leadership and laid out the questions he wanted answered about what comes next.

"And we're going to talk to leadership tonight," Schmitt said. "We're hoping to potentially get the leader of the country, Delcy Rodriguez. We're certain to speak to her brother, I believe, who also has a very big position inside the government here."

The big question is, he added, will be about how long it will take for change.

Ruddy said he believes "we're seeing a transition government that's working really well," including cooperation with the Trump administration.

"From what I hear from people in Washington, it's working really well with the Trump administration, which is remarkable," Ruddy said. "Delcy Rodriguez is the acting president. So all that's very positive. And I do think at some point you're going to need elections ... there has been talk of stolen elections for years. Other things that [maybe were not] completely legitimate. So this is a really big turning point for Venezuela."

Schmitt emphasized Newsmax's access on the ground in Caracas, which Ruddy tied to the network's growth.

"Well, it's a sign I think, Newsmax, people are talking," Ruddy said. "Millions of people are tuning in to us around, as we like to say, they're making the switch to Newsmax. And so we're first, and you are first, so it's going to be great."

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