“We’re making that decision now,” Trump told Fox News in a telephone interview. “We can’t take a chance of letting somebody else run it and just take over what he left off. We’ll be involved in it very much.”
Trump added that the United States would also be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry. “We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it,” he said.
On Saturday, María Corina Machado, a key opposition figure, called for Edmundo González to be appointed Maduro’s successor and to assume control over the government and military.
González been recognized by the United States as Venezuela’s "legitimate leader" after he claimed victory over Maduro in the disputed 2024 presidential election.
Speaking to Fox News, Trump declined to say whether he supported Machado as Venezuela’s next president.
Machado, who has aligned herself with US policy positions, has welcomed international pressure on the Maduro government, and called on foreign governments to take action against Venezuela’s leadership.
She has also cultivated ties with Israel and said she would move Venezuela’s embassy there to Jerusalem if she assumes power, a sharp break from Caracas’ long-standing foreign policy of supporting the Palestinian cause.
President Maduro, by contrast, aligned Venezuela with countries often at odds with US interests, including Russia, China, Cuba, and Iran.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves and, under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chávez, pursued policies aimed at limiting US influence, asserting state control over natural resources, and deepening ties with partners outside Washington’s orbit.
The Venezuelan state has used crude exports as a strategic tool even as production declined due to US sanctions. US policy has included sanctions on state oil company PDVSA, criminal indictments of senior officials, and support for opposition movements.
Trump said he watched live as US special forces captured Maduro in what he described as a raid, likening it to “a television show.” “I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show. If you would have seen the speed, the violence. We watched every aspect of it,” he said.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Trump said he spoke with Maduro about a week ago and told him he “had to surrender.” He said Maduro and his wife were being taken to New York to face federal charges. “They’re on a ship but they’ll be heading into New York. The helicopters took them out,” he said.
President Maduro, who was captured by US forces on Saturday, could make an initial appearance in federal court in Manhattan as early as Monday, Fox News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter, though the timing could change.
With Maduro’s whereabouts officially unconfirmed, Venezuelan law would make Vice President Delcy Rodríguez the acting head of state. Speaking by telephone to state television, Rodríguez said she did not know the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following a series of US strikes on Caracas and other cities, and demanded proof of life for the couple.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said in a video released Saturday that his country will resist any foreign troop presence on its soil.
Padrino added that a US attack was carried out earlier that day, targeting civilian areas inside Venezuela, and that authorities were currently gathering preliminary information on the number of dead and wounded.
The Defense Minister announced the activation of a state of emergency throughout the country, given the ongoing US military operations, and confirmed that the Venezuelan armed forces were on high alert.
In New York, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed "deep concern" over US military action in Venezuela, his spokesman said Saturday, calling it “a dangerous precedent.”
A number of nations have called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York in response to Washington’s unilateral action.
“The Secretary-General continues to emphasize the importance of full respect—by all—of international law, including the UN Charter. He’s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
Guterres also called on all actors in Venezuela to engage in inclusive dialogue, in full respect of human rights and the rule of law, Dujarric said.
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