US President Donald Trump on Monday said Venezuela would not hold new elections within the next 30 days, stressing that the country must first be stabilised following the capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking to NBC News, Trump said the United States was not at war with Venezuela, despite its deepening involvement there. “We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote,” he said.
“No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have to nurse the country back to health,” Trump added.
His remarks came two days after US forces seized Maduro and his wife in Caracas and flew them to New York, where he was questioned over alleged crimes including narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking. Maduro pleaded not guilty and claimed he remained Venezuela’s legitimate leader, even as Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in on Monday as his successor and interim president.
Trump said the US could assist in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil and energy sector and might subsidise oil companies involved in restoring infrastructure. “I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money,” he said, adding that oil companies would initially invest and later be reimbursed by the US or through revenue.
The president reiterated that Washington was not waging a war against the Venezuelan state. “No, we’re not,” he said when asked directly. Instead, he said the US was fighting drugs and criminal networks. “We’re at war with people that sell drugs… that empty their prisons, their drug addicts and their mental institutions into our country,” he said.
Trump said a group of senior officials would oversee US involvement, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
He also warned that another military operation could be launched if cooperation breaks down. “We’re prepared to do it,” Trump said. “We anticipated doing it, actually.”
Responding to criticism over the lack of congressional authorisation for the operation, Trump said he did not require approval to act again, claiming he had strong backing on Capitol Hill. He also expressed confidence in his political base, saying: “MAGA loves it. MAGA loves what I’m doing. MAGA loves everything I do.”
