Will have to fix Venezuela first, no election in 30 days, says Trump

Trump said US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Vice President JD Vance, will manage the US' involvement in Venezuela

US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) said that Venezuela will not have new elections in the next 30 days, stating that the country needs to be "fixed".

 

In an interview with NBC News, Trump said, "We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote... It’s going to take a period of time. We have to nurse the country back to health."

 

Trump had earlier said the US would "run the country" during a transition after Washington launched a large-scale operation in Caracas. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said Washington does not plan to govern Venezuela directly.

 

Trump says he's 'in charge'

Trump said a small group of top US officials, including Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and Vice President JD Vance, will manage the US' involvement in Venezuela.

 

However, Trump made it clear that the final authority rests with him alone, stating that he's "in charge".

 

His comments came hours after Maduro was arrested and taken to New York to face charges related to drug trafficking and terrorism. Maduro has denied the charges and claimed he is still the country’s leader, even as his deputy Delcy Rodríguez took the oath as his replacement.

We're not at war: Trump

Trump also denied the US was at war with Venezuela. "No, we’re not. We’re at war with people that sell drugs. We’re at war with people that empty their prisons into our country and empty their drug addicts and empty their mental institutions into our country," Trump told NBC News.

US may help oil companies rebuild

Trump also said the US may subsidise an effort by oil companies to rebuild the country's energy infrastructure, adding that the project will take less than 18 months.

 

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money. A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue," he said.