Pressed to say who ultimately is currently in charge of Venezuela, President Donald Trump issued a one-word answer: "Me."
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Trump projected a longer U.S. engagement in Venezuela — two days after American forces captured Nicolas Maduro in a lightning raid in Caracas.
Trump said Venezuela will not hold new elections within the next 30 days, arguing the country is too broken and unstable after years of socialist rule and cartel-linked corruption.
"We have to fix the country first. You can't have an election," Trump told NBC News' Kristen Welker.
"There's no way the people could even vote. … No, it's going to take a period of time."
"We have — we have to nurse the country back to health," he added.
Trump also insisted the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela, framing the mission instead as a fight against drug traffickers and the pipeline of illegal migration that has poured into the United States.
"We're at war with people that sell drugs," he said, also blaming the Maduro regime for emptying prisons and mental institutions as migrants fled north.
Maduro was arraigned in New York on charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy.
He pleaded not guilty and claimed he remains Venezuela's leader, even as Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in Monday as his successor.
Trump said Rodriguez has been cooperating with U.S. officials and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has a strong relationship with her.
Trump denied, however, that there was any coordination before Maduro's ouster, though he hinted that "a lot of people wanted to make a deal" and that the U.S. chose to act "this way" without Maduro's inner circle.
Trump named a team overseeing the effort, including Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, and Vice President JD Vance.
Trump's candid answer reflects a willingness to use American power to dismantle narco-states that fuel drugs, chaos, and mass migration while positioning the U.S. to secure strategic energy interests at the same time.
Trump told NBC that the U.S. may subsidize the rebuilding of Venezuela's oil infrastructure, a plan he said could get expanded operations "up and running" in fewer than 18 months.
"A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent," he said, adding that oil companies would invest and then be reimbursed "by us or through revenue," according to NBC's related oil report.
Trump said that tapping Venezuela's massive reserves would help drive oil prices down, claiming the move benefits American consumers by keeping energy costs low.
Gas prices are already near multiyear lows, with AAA reporting Monday's national average at $2.81 a gallon, the lowest since March 2021.
NBC noted that major oil companies remain cautious. A history of nationalizations, ongoing sanctions, and political instability make rapid investment risky.
Trump said the companies were not briefed ahead of the raid but had discussed the concept of intervention.
He also said it was "too soon" to confirm whether he personally spoke with top executives at Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips.
Reports indicate Energy Secretary Chris Wright is expected to meet with executives from Exxon and ConocoPhillips this week about Venezuela's oil sector.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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