US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States will take direct control of Venezuela for an indefinite period following the reported capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, signaling a dramatic and unprecedented shift in US foreign policy toward Latin America.
Speaking Saturday during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, Trump said the US would oversee Venezuela’s governance until what he described as a “safe, proper and judicious transition” of power can be achieved.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said. “We don’t want to be involved with having someone else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country.”
No Timeline for Transition
Trump did not provide a timeline for how long US oversight of Venezuela would last, saying only that American involvement would continue until the administration is satisfied that a credible and stable transition is possible.
“We’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” he said, adding that the goal is to ensure Venezuela’s next leader has “the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.”
The remarks come hours after Trump announced that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been captured and removed from Venezuela following what he called a “large scale strike” carried out with the involvement of US law enforcement and military forces.
Oil Industry Takeover Planned
In a further escalation, Trump said he plans to authorize major US oil companies to take over Venezuela’s energy infrastructure, which has been crippled by years of sanctions, underinvestment, and mismanagement.
“We’re going to have our very large United States 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,” Trump said.
Venezuela possesses some of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but production has collapsed over the past decade amid economic crisis and political instability.
Fallout in Venezuela
Venezuelan officials have rejected the US claims and condemned the operation. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said earlier that the government does not know the whereabouts of Maduro or First Lady Cilia Flores and demanded proof of life from Washington.
The country’s defense minister accused the US of attacking urban areas with missiles and rockets, claiming officials, military personnel, and civilians were killed. He vowed resistance to what he called an “invasion” and “the greatest outrage the country has suffered.”
A Long Conflict Reaches a Breaking Point
Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chávez in 2013, has long been a target of US sanctions and diplomatic pressure. His presidency has been marked by disputed elections, allegations of narco-terrorism, economic collapse, and international isolation.
The first Trump administration charged Maduro with narco-terrorism in 2020, accusing him of working with Colombian rebel groups to flood the US with cocaine. Maduro dismissed the charges and frequently accused Trump of imperialism.
Tensions escalated further in recent months after the Trump administration increased economic and military pressure and announced a $50 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
What Comes Next
Trump’s declaration that the US will “run” Venezuela indefinitely is likely to provoke intense international backlash, raise serious legal and constitutional questions, and deepen instability in the region.
With Maduro’s status still unclear and no defined transition plan, the situation remains fluid. What is certain is that Venezuela has entered a new and highly volatile phase, with consequences that could reshape politics, energy markets, and security across the Americas.
