Trump says America will run Venezuela after overnight Military prowess

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The United States will assume control of Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” of power is achieved, President Donald Trump declared on Saturday, following what he described as an “extraordinary” overnight military operation in Caracas that crippled the country’s security and energy infrastructure.

Speaking at a news conference flanked by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump said Washington would “run” Venezuela for an interim period to stabilise the country and pave the way for a new political order.

“We are going to run Venezuela until such a time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said.

“They’re not going to suffer any more.”

Trump launched a blistering attack on President Nicolás Maduro, branding him an “illegitimate dictator” and accusing him of overseeing a narco-terror network responsible for flooding the United States with illicit drugs.

He alleged that Maduro ran the Cartel de los Soles cartel and claimed that the Venezuelan leader and his wife now “face American justice” after being indicted in the Southern District of New York.

Maduro has previously and repeatedly denied any links to drug trafficking.

According to Trump, the US operation struck what he called a “heavily fortified military fortress” in the heart of Caracas, drawing comparisons with past American strikes on strategic targets in Iran.

He said the lights across the Venezuelan capital were shut down during the operation due to “a certain expertise” possessed by the US military.

“No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday,” he said, adding that all Venezuelan military capabilities had been “rendered powerless”.

Trump praised the US armed forces for what he described as their “breathtaking speed, power, precision and competence”, claiming the operation involved overwhelming force by air, land and sea.

He said Venezuelan forces were “waiting for us” with ships deployed but were “completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated”.

Trump further claimed the operation had dealt a decisive blow to drug trafficking routes, alleging that the US had knocked out “97% of drugs coming in by sea” and that most of those drugs originated from Venezuela. Those figures have not been independently verified.

Turning to Venezuela’s oil sector, Trump said the industry had been “a bust” under Maduro’s leadership and announced that major US companies would move in to repair infrastructure and revive production.

“Large American companies are going to go into the country, fix the infrastructure and start making money for the country,” he said.

Despite declaring the initial operation a success, Trump warned that Washington was prepared to escalate militarily if necessary.

“We are ready to stage a second, and much larger, attack if needed,” he said, adding that while a second wave had been expected, it might no longer be required given the scale of the initial strikes.

Trump also promised that Venezuelans living in the United States would be “extremely happy” with the new direction, insisting that a US-led partnership would make the Venezuelan people “rich, independent and safe”.