President Donald Trump said at a press conference on Saturday that the U.S. will run Venezuela until a “safe” and “proper” transition can take place after removing the country’s leader President Nicolás Maduro from power.
The press conference comes after the U.S. launched strikes on the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Saturday morning, before capturing the country’s leader Maduro and his wife.
“This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American might and competence in American history,” Trump told the media at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, flanked by senior officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Trump said Maduro was in custody and that American officials would take control of Venezuela. Earlier in the day, Trump posted a photograph of Maduro, blind folded and onboard the USS Iwo Jima assault ship, on the Truth Social network.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said. “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.”
The president said the U.S. does not want a similar situation with a new leader.
“We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that does not have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind – we’ve had decades of that.”
He gave little information about how the country would be run in the coming months, but said it would be done with a “group” and Rubio would be working on the details. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” he said.
Trump expressed doubt that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado could run that country, saying she does not have the support or respect of the people.
Trump said the U.S. plans to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure and that large U.S. oil companies will go into the country, which is one of the largest producers in the world. A U.S. embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect, he said.
Trump said the plan is to make “the people of Venezuela rich, independent and safe.”
Speaking about the “extraordinary military operation” on Saturday morning, the president said U.S. forces were prepared for a second, larger attack as part of the operation to capture the Venezuelan leader overnight, but that it was not necessary.
US ‘captures’ Venezuelan president and his wife, says Trump, after explosions heard across capital
In his statement, Trump referenced the Monroe Doctrine, drafted in 1823 by President James Monroe, laying U.S. claim to influence in the region, as well as the “gunboat diplomacy” seen under Theodore Roosevelt in the early 1900s.
The U.S. ’new National Security Strategy document released late last year said Washington should reassert its dominance in the Western Hemisphere in accordance with the policy.
On Saturday, Trump joked that it had been renamed after him.
“The Monroe doctrine is a big deal, but we’ve superseded it by a real lot… they now call it the Don-roe doctrine,” he told reporters. “I was very important, but we forgot about it. We don’t forget about it anymore.”
“Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in our home region,” he added.
Monroe opposed new European colonization or interference in the Americas. In return, it pledged U.S. non-involvement in European conflicts and politics.
Poland says embassy is secure and monitoring 11 Polish citizens in Venezuela after US attack
On Saturday morning, Trump confirmed on the Truth Social platform that the U.S. carried out “large-scale strikes against Venezuela” and “captured” Maduro and his wife before transporting them to the USA.
At least seven explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard around 2 a.m. local time, with videos circulating on social media showing multiple explosions across Caracas.
Trump has accused the South American country of flooding the U.S. with drugs, and his administration has for months been bombing boats originating in South America that it alleges were carrying narcotics.
The U.S. president has also pressured Maduro to flee the nation, saying on Monday it would be “smart” for the president to leave power.
The U.S. has not made such a direct intervention in its backyard region since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago to depose military leader Manuel Noriega over similar allegations, Reuters news agency said.
‘Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy’
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote on X on Saturday afternoon that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been indicted in New York and charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.”
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi added.
Widely considered a dictator, Maduro, 63, has ruled Venezuela since 2013. He was sworn in to a third six-year term in January, but the election has been criticized as neither free nor fair. The leader has long been a target of U.S. sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
Maduro denies Trump’s allegations.