Washington — US President Donald Trump has publicly demanded “total access” to Venezuela, with a particular focus on the country’s oil resources, following the removal of President Nicolás Maduro through US military action.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump said the United States needed unrestricted access to Venezuela’s oil and other strategic assets. He claimed such access was necessary to “rebuild” the country.
Trump said he had not yet spoken directly with Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez but indicated that a conversation would take place “at the right time.” Rodríguez, who served as vice president under Maduro, assumed the role of acting president after Maduro was flown out of Venezuela following US strikes.
The US president went further, asserting that Washington was effectively running Venezuela. He claimed the United States was “in charge” and already engaging with the new authorities in Caracas, while declining to clearly identify who held power on the ground, saying any direct answer would be “very controversial.”
Trump also repeated a warning issued earlier in an interview with The Atlantic, stating that Rodríguez could face consequences worse than Maduro’s if she failed to comply with US expectations. He said Maduro had “given up immediately,” implying that cooperation would determine Rodríguez’s political fate.
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Maduro is expected to appear before a court in New York on Monday in connection with multiple criminal charges filed by US authorities.
Trump said that shortly after Maduro’s capture, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone conversation with Rodríguez and that the White House was working with her administration. He claimed Rodríguez was willing to take steps that Washington believes are necessary to stabilize Venezuela, noting that she had been politically elevated by Maduro himself.
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However, Rodríguez has publicly rejected US claims of authority over Venezuela. Speaking during a National Defense Council meeting broadcast on state-run VTV, she demanded the immediate release of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, calling Maduro “the only president of Venezuela.”
Rodríguez also accused the United States of a severe violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty, stating that the country’s territorial integrity had been “savagely attacked” during US strikes on Caracas and other regions aimed at capturing Maduro.
