Trump Announces U.S. Control Over Venezuela Following Nicolas Maduro's Capture

Trump's Statements After Attacks in Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the United States will "run" Venezuela until a political transition occurs, just hours after American forces bombed the South American nation and "captured" President Nicolas Maduro. In a press conference held on Saturday, Trump stated that the U.S. will "administer the country until we can achieve a safe, appropriate, and prudent transition."

"We do not want to be involved in situations where someone else takes control and we have the same context we have had in the past years," he said. The Trump administration launched attacks on the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in the early hours of Saturday, following a months-long campaign of pressure against Maduro's government. This campaign included the U.S. seizing oil tankers off the Venezuelan coast, as well as deadly strikes against boats suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean, widely condemned as extrajudicial killings.

Washington accused the Venezuelan leader, who has been in power since 2013, of having links to drug cartels—a claim Maduro has denied, asserting that the U.S. is working to overthrow him and seize control of Venezuela's vast oil reserves. During the Saturday press conference, Trump mentioned that "very large U.S. oil companies" would enter Venezuela to "repair the severely damaged oil infrastructure and start generating revenue for the country." He added that his administration's actions "will enrich and make the people of Venezuela independent and safe."

The Trump administration justified the "capture" of Maduro, stating that the leftist leader faces drug-related charges in the U.S. Trump further mentioned that the Venezuelan president—who was detained alongside his wife, Cilia Flores—will be transferred to New York to face these charges. However, legal experts, world leaders, and Democratic Party legislators in the U.S. condemned the administration's actions as a violation of international law. "Attacking countries, in blatant violation of international law, is the first step toward a world of violence, chaos, and instability, where the law of the strongest prevails over multilateralism," wrote Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on X. Ben Saul, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Countering Terrorism, also criticized what he called the "illegal abduction" of Maduro by Washington.