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Asked whether Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and the most prominent opposition leader, could be the country's next leader, Trump responded bluntly:
" I think it would be very difficult for her to be a leader. She doesn't have enough support or respect within the country. She's a very good woman, but she doesn't have respect ."
The statement marks a sharp shift from the administration's previous signals about Machado, who was seen as a possible figure for a democratic transition after Maduro's ouster. Trump's distrust appears to run deeper, leaving open the possibility that the US may not immediately hand over power to the traditional opposition, but rather administer the country directly through a controlled structure.
Then, Trump returned to the topic of oil, for which he no longer hid any intention: " It will not cost us anything. The money coming out of the ground is very large. American oil companies will invest, and we will get the oil back. Oil that, frankly, we should have gotten a long time ago ."
He added: "We will be reimbursed for everything we spend. For everything."
In closing, Trump described the intervention as a “great thing” that will bring great benefits to the US – and in the end, “the biggest beneficiary will be the people of Venezuela.”
US President Donald Trump has significantly expanded his administration's warning tone following the military attack on Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, sending direct messages to other Latin American countries.
During the press conference, Trump briefly touched on Colombia and its president, Gustavo Petro, about whom he used language that was unusual even by his standards. " He needs to be careful. He's producing cocaine and shipping it to the United States ," Trump said, adding that he fully stands by his previous statements about the Colombian leader.
These comments come in the wake of the narrative that Washington is building after the intervention in Venezuela, where Trump has emphasized that the US is "restoring order and stability" to the Western Hemisphere and will not tolerate regimes or governments that, according to him, fuel organized crime and drug trafficking towards American territory.
Asked if the message of "encirclement with stability" also applies to Cuba, Trump responded without hesitation, including Cuba in the same line of political pressure. He described Cuba as a "failed state" and said that the Cuban issue "will definitely be on the table."
" We want to help the Cuban people, but also those who were forced to leave Cuba and are now living in the United States ," Trump declared, comparing the situation to that of Venezuela before the military intervention.
At this point, the US president invited Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who comes from a family of Cuban immigrants, to join him. Rubio reinforced the message in cold diplomatic tones: " When the president speaks, you have to take him seriously. If I lived in Havana and was part of the government, I would be worried ."
President Donald Trump has deepened his statements regarding plans for the oil industry in Venezuela, making it clear that the United States' objective is not only to stabilize the country, but also to sell Venezuelan oil on a large scale on international markets.
" We are in the oil business. We will sell it. We are not going to say we are not going to. In other words, we will sell oil, and probably in much larger quantities ," Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
He explained that due to the degraded infrastructure of the Maduro era, Venezuela did not have the capacity to produce significant amounts of oil. Now, with the entry of American companies, production is expected to increase significantly and become a sustainable source for export.
" We will sell large amounts of oil to other countries. Many countries are using it now, but I would say a lot more will be coming ," Trump said, signaling a new U.S. role as direct manager of Venezuela's natural resources.
The president's statement reinforces the belief that the military intervention in Venezuela did not only have political and humanitarian objectives, but is part of a broader strategy to restore energy control in the Western Hemisphere, at a time when rivals such as China and Russia have attempted to gain ground in the region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from Florida after President Trump's press conference, stressed that the United States has never recognized Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela, recalling that since 2020, he has been under federal indictment and declared internationally wanted by US justice.
" Nicolás Maduro is not the president of Venezuela. He has not been recognized by the first Trump administration, nor by the Biden administration, nor by the second Trump administration. Nor does the European Union recognize him as such. He is a fugitive from American justice, with a $50 million reward for his capture ," Rubio declared.
He also revealed that Maduro had several opportunities to avoid this scenario. “ He was offered several opportunities – very, very generous – to exit calmly and with dignity. But he chose to act like a madman, to play with time and with fate. The result is what we saw tonight ,” Rubio said.
The Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Dan Caine, today revealed the official name of the mission that led to the overthrow and arrest of Nicolás Maduro: Operation "Absolute Resolve".
Speaking from Washington after President Trump, General Caine stated that this operation took place in complete secrecy, with high precision and during the darkest hours of January 2, describing it as the culmination of a long preparation process.
“ The operation, known as Absolute Resolve, was discreet, precise, and took place during the darkest night of January 2. It was the culmination of months of intensive planning and training – an operation that, to put it bluntly, only the US military could pull off ,” Caine said.
Sources close to US authorities have confirmed to CNN that Nicolás Maduro, currently aboard the USS Iwo Jima, will make a brief stop at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, before being finally transferred to New York.
The stop at "Gitmo," as this base located in southeastern Cuba is often known, is part of a plan to expedite Maduro's transfer, avoiding intermediate procedures and sending him directly by military plane to New York.
According to sources, Maduro will be temporarily housed at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, while his first appearance in federal court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) is expected to take place on Monday.
Maduro has been under indictment since 2020 on charges including narco-terrorism, international drug trafficking and state-level corruption. A new, expanded indictment was made public on Saturday, shortly after his arrest by US forces in Caracas.
This development marks a historic chapter for US-Latin American relations, with a powerful regional leader not only being forcibly removed, but being brought to trial on American soil, in an unprecedented precedent in recent decades.
After President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, General Dan Caine, the highest-ranking officer in the US Armed Forces, appeared before the media, revealing the true dimensions of the most complex military operation in the Western Hemisphere in recent decades.
In a detailed statement, General Caine said that interagency work on this offensive had begun months ago, and had built on decades of experience in integrating air, land, sea and space operations.
" This was a meticulously planned operation, where the CIA, NSA and the National Crime Agency (NCA) worked closely together to build a seamless interoperability structure ," Caine said.
He announced that more than 150 aircraft were launched simultaneously from different points in the Western Hemisphere, in a synchronized operation with extreme precision, with a single goal: introducing an intervention force into the heart of Caracas while maintaining tactical surprise.
" The failure of a single component would jeopardize the entire mission, and for joint American forces, failure is never an option, " General Caine declared in stern tones.
His statement clearly confirms that the intervention in Venezuela was not an immediate reaction, but part of a masterfully constructed, broad strategy that involved all levels of the US national security apparatus.
At the end of the extraordinary press conference, President Donald Trump delivered the strongest political and ideological message regarding the military intervention that led to the overthrow of Nicolás Maduro and the establishment of American control in Venezuela.
" We are reaffirming American power in a very powerful way, in our region, at home, " Trump said, referring to the Western Hemisphere as the natural sphere of US influence.
In a direct clash with Maduro’s legacy, Trump declared that “ this man will never again be able to threaten an American citizen or anyone in Venezuela .” He accused the Chavista regime of a criminal strategy of exporting criminals and drug traffickers to the U.S., saying that “they emptied the prisons and sent the most violent and dangerous people to steal American lives. But that will not happen again.”
Trump also repeated the accusation that Venezuela "stole American oil," claiming that it was American companies that built the energy industry in this country, but were then ousted and robbed by the Chavista regime.
Focusing on the ideological basis of this action, Trump links the intervention to the Monroe Doctrine, a core doctrine of American foreign policy dating back to 1823 and intended to deter European interventions in Latin America. “ We had kind of forgotten about it, but it was very important. Now we’re bringing it back .”
In closing, he declared in a ceremonial tone: “ The dictator and terrorist Maduro is finally gone, and the Venezuelan people are free. They are free again. It has been a long time coming for them, but they are free now. America is safer this morning, and the Western Hemisphere is a much safer place to live today .”
This statement finalizes the new stance of the United States towards a hemisphere clearly dominated by Washington, where military and economic interventions are justified as part of a regional policy restored after decades of inaction.
US President Donald Trump has praised the military intervention that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro as a complete military and logistical success, emphasizing that the operation was carried out without any casualties among US forces and without loss of military equipment.
Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said that "if you had seen what I saw last night, you would be deeply impressed," adding that what happened was "an incredible thing to see."
According to the president, the operation involved "many helicopters, many aircraft and many, many troops involved in the combat," implying that it was a large-scale coordinated intervention involving multiple capabilities of the US military.
Trump once again emphasized that there were no casualties and no military equipment damaged, an achievement he described as a testament to the strength and professionalism of the American armed forces.
His statements come in a tense international climate, following the intervention that overthrew the Chavista regime and placed the US in a temporary leadership position over Venezuela, with the declared aim of a "safe and controlled" transition.
President Donald Trump has revealed another dramatic detail from the military operation that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro in the heart of Caracas, describing the night of the attack as an absolute demonstration of American military superiority.
At the press conference held today, Trump said: "It was dark, the lights of Caracas were mostly turned off thanks to a unique experience that we have. And it was deadly."
He emphasized that no country in the world could have accomplished what the US accomplished in such a short time, completely paralyzing Venezuela's military capabilities and capturing Maduro in the middle of the night, without casualties and without material losses on the American side.
"In collaboration with our law enforcement and military, we successfully arrested Maduro, in total darkness. This is what America can do," the president declared, praising the personnel involved in the operation as "extraordinary people who carried out the mission perfectly."
His statement adds to the intensity of the narrative that Washington is building around this intervention, a surgical-style action, motivated not only politically, but also strategically, in one of the world's richest oil countries.
Continuing his statements to the media, President Donald Trump has revealed one of the main goals behind the US military intervention in Venezuela: the strategic exploitation of the oil industry.
Speaking from Mar-a-Lago, Trump stressed that the largest US oil companies will enter Venezuela to invest billions of dollars in rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure, which he described as "catastrophic" after decades under the Chavista regime.
" We're going to bring in our big oil companies, the biggest in the world. They're going to spend billions to fix the badly damaged oil infrastructure and start generating money for the country ," Trump declared.
This assertion, made openly and without reservations, reinforces rumors that the US intervention in Venezuela has had a clear economic and energy component, in addition to the political and security aspect.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but its production has been crippled by decades of mismanagement, corruption and international sanctions. Trump said that after Maduro's departure, the country would open up to American investment with the aim of turning the energy industry into an "engine of economic development and institutional reconstruction."
The statement constitutes a direct admission that oil is at the center of US strategy in Venezuela, and that its control will be essential for the transition period that will be managed by Washington.
President Donald Trump has provided new details of last night's military strike in Venezuela, describing the operation as one of the most sophisticated and successful in US military history. In a statement from Mar-a-Lago, he revealed that during the offensive, "the lights of Caracas were turned off in a coordinated manner through a unique experience that we have," describing the environment as "dark and deadly."
" If you had seen what I saw last night, you would have been amazed, " Trump said, adding that while the footage would not be made public immediately, what happened was "something extraordinary to see."
He emphasized that there were no casualties among American forces and no loss of military equipment, considering this one of the cleanest operations in the history of US interventions.
But the most important warning came later: “ We are ready to launch a second wave of attacks – and this time, much larger – if necessary .”
Trump said military planning had anticipated that a second wave might be required, but the effectiveness of the first operation was so high that it probably wouldn't be necessary.
“However,” he added, “we are ready for the second wave – a much bigger wave.”
This statement signals that the US is still maintaining a high state of alert and that, despite the initial success, nothing is definitive about stability in Venezuela. The situation remains tense, while US forces and components of the interim administration are consolidating control on the ground.
US president confirms temporary control of country after Maduro's ouster, rules out immediate transfer of power
President Donald Trump has made it clear during his press conference that the United States will take direct control of Venezuela, following the military attack that led to the overthrow and arrest of Nicolás Maduro.
" We will lead the country until we are confident that we can make a safe, orderly and measured transition, " Trump told reporters, adding that the US does not want to repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing power to pass to " someone else who will bring in the same regime ."
The President emphasized that the goal is not to immediately install a new local government, but for the process to be controlled by Washington until political and institutional stability in the country is guaranteed.
" We have seen what has happened for many years in Venezuela, and we cannot allow it to happen again. Therefore, we will lead the country, responsibly and forcefully, until the time comes for a sustainable transition ," Trump said.
This statement reinforces the clear signal that the US has taken responsibility not only for the overthrow of the Maduro regime, but also for the subsequent phase of governance, placing Venezuela under temporary American administration.
At this stage, it has not yet been clarified what form this "interim management" of the Venezuelan state will take, nor how long it will last, but sources from the State Department have warned of a transitional structure supported by international forces and credible opposition actors.
Tramp hodhi një 'pushkë' në Venezuelë.Pushka ju bëftë top. Fati i Maduros do ndjek gjithë autokratët në oborrin e mbrapmë të SHBA. Se nuk mjafton të mbash oborrin tënd pastër, ndërkohë që kojshia ta hedh qesen me plehra në themelin tënd të shtëpisë. Qeverisja amerikane për një periudhë tranzicioni do jetë e domosdoshme. Makado sikur ta dija ,para gati një muaji e kam paragjykuar thjesht si frikacake, pasi u fsheh dhe nuk udhëhoqi opozitën . Në vënd të modernizonte ekonominë dhe industrinë nxjerrëse të naftës, Madurro u kthye në kapo të kokainës. Në vënd të bashkëpunonte me SHBA ftonte Kinën nga pi... a e s'ëmës për partneritet. Populli i Venezuelës me siguri në një të ardhme të afërt do ketë përmirësim të jetës , më shumë liri dhe atëhere do njohi Maduron dhe sistemin e tij në gjithë dimensionin e vetë dëmbërës.