President Donald Trump said on Sunday night that the United States is “in charge” of Venezuela after its mission that resulted in the arrest of Nicolas Maduro and the fall of his regime.
Initially hesitant to answer a question about who is running the country after Maduro’s ouster, saying it would be a “controversial” answer, Trump ultimately said, “We’re in charge.”
“We’re gonna run it. Fix it. We’ll have elections at the right time,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he headed back to the White House from Mar-a-Lago.
The president’s comments are similar to ones he made on Saturday immediately after Operation Absolute Resolve, the U.S. military’s mission that included strikes on Caracas and the arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia.
Then, he said the U.S. will temporarily “run” the country until there is a “safe” transition to new leadership. Members of his Cabinet have clarified that Trump is referring to Venezuelan “policy,” not the nation itself.
But Trump’s teasing of a future election to determine the president of Venezuela suggests the U.S. will have a heavy hand in the transition.
Currently, Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s vice president, is serving as the de facto leader of the country in accordance with Venezuela’s constitution.
But Rodriguez, a holdover from the Maduro regime, may not have much time left. Trump has suggested he wants the entire regime gone, all but forcing her to capitulate.
“We’re not going to just do this with Maduro then leave like everybody else — leave and say, you know, let it go to hell. If we just left, it has zero chance of ever coming back. We’ll run it properly. We’ll run it professionally,” Trump said on Saturday.
He later issued a direct threat to Rodriguez, saying she would pay a “bigger” price than Maduro if she resisted U.S. demands.
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Rodriguez has since called for “cooperation” between the two countries after her initial condemnation of the U.S. attack and insistence that Maduro is still the president of Venezuela.
Trump also maintained she is “cooperating” with his administration while on Air Force One despite acknowledging he hasn’t personally spoken to her.