Trump wants America to ‘run’ Venezuela for a while and explore its vast oil reserves following the capture of Nicolás Maduro
Not everyone is happy with Donald Trump capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the recent attacks, but he doesn’t appear to care. Amidst ongoing protests from influential figures claiming that Trump’s actions to remove Maduro were unjust and illegal, Trump insists that the United States and his administration will “run” Venezuela until a “safe, proper, and judicious transition” can be achieved. Essentially, he wants to maintain control over the South American country as long as his desire for Venezuelan oil remains unfulfilled, and possibly even longer if he finds sufficient reason to do so.
On January 3, 2026, following the U.S. government’s capture of Nicolás Maduro in an operation, President Donald Trump held a press briefing to update the public on the developments surrounding the attacks and share his expectations for the future. During the briefing, Trump also took questions from the press who were present. A common question that arose was about Trump’s next plans. While addressing one such question, Trump alarmingly stated that he and the United States intended to “run” Venezuela for a period until a transition of powers could occur, implying that this would continue until a new President is appointed. Personally, I find his assertion that the U.S. will “run” a country reminiscent of a king or dictator’s governance, titles that Trump has repeatedly rejected and found offensive when applied to him. To give you a sense of how scary his words were, here is exactly what he said:
“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. And that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country. It’s their homeland. We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.”
Trump reiterated his desire to continue overseeing Venezuela for the time being a couple of times after this and then quickly moved on to the topic of the country’s vast oil reserves, which he claims are not being utilised to their full potential. Trump expressed his desire to utilise them, a plan he has had for a long time. His claims received a variety of reactions. While his supporters mostly praised him for his bold move, others with a functioning brain, including a few Republicans, recognised the malice behind his intentions.
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