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New Delhi: US President Donald Trump on Friday said Washington would assume control of Venezuela until a “proper and judicious” political transition is completed. He made the comments at a press briefing from Trump’s Florida residence, held hours after US special forces carried out a rare cross-border operation in the South American country.
The operation resulted in the detention of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, according to US officials.
“We are going to run the country until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said.
He opened the briefing by lauding the overnight military operation, describing it as “one of the most stunning attacks and effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.”
Emphasising the scale and speed of the operation, Trump said, “No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday, or frankly, in such a short period of time.” He claimed that the action had completely neutralised Venezuela’s military capabilities, stating that “all Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless” as US forces, working alongside law enforcement agencies, “successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night.”
The US president sharply criticised the leadership of Nicolás Maduro, calling it “both horrible and breathtaking,” and said the operation was intended to restore peace and stability in Venezuela. “We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela,” Trump said, adding that many Venezuelans living in the United States wished to return to their homeland.
Trump said Washington would not permit a new leadership to emerge without ensuring that the interests of Venezuelans were protected. “We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind [after] decades of that. We’re not going to let that happen,” he said.
He confirmed that the United States would maintain its presence during the transition phase. “We’re there now... we’re going to stay until such time as a proper transition can take place,” Trump said.
The president also connected the intervention to Venezuela’s oil sector, saying US energy companies would be central to rebuilding it. “We’re going to have our very large US 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,” he said.
Trump further said that US forces had been ready to escalate military action if necessary. “We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so,” he said, adding that a follow-up strike had been planned but was ultimately deemed unnecessary.
That apart, Trump shared what he described as the first image of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after his reported capture by US forces. The photograph, posted on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, shows Maduro aboard the US Navy assault ship USS Iwo Jima, reportedly while being transported to New York City for indictment.
In the image, Maduro appears blindfolded and wearing soundproof headphones, with his hands cuffed. He is seen holding a plastic water bottle and dressed in a Nike sweatsuit. The Venezuelan leader is standing on the deck of the vessel as it heads towards New York, where he is expected to face prosecution on narco-terrorism charges. A cop is visible beside Maduro, though only partially in frame, and appears to be holding his arm as he stands on the ship.
Trump shared the image amid a flood of viral and fabricated arrest photos circulating online following claims by US authorities that Maduro and his wife had been detained. The post was presented as an authentic visual confirmation of Maduro’s custody, contrasting it with what Trump allies have described as misinformation spreading across social media platforms.
Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, does not appear in the photograph. According to US officials, she has also been arrested in connection with the alleged narco-terrorism network and is being extradited separately. Both Maduro and Flores are expected to be produced before the Southern District of New York, where prosecutors are preparing to initiate formal legal proceedings against them in the coming days.
