WATCH: President Trump Announces U.S. Will RUN Venezuela After Maduro’s Capture

Wow, what a day…

After a U.S. military operation that ended in the capture of Venezuelan Dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife, President Trump just announced the next steps.

In a press conference, President Trump said that the U.S. will govern Venezuela until it’s time to do a “safe, proper and judicious transition.”

Watch here:

🚨 BREAKING: The United States is RUNNING the country of Venezuela until a leader replaces Maduro

"WE are going to run the country, until a safe, proper and judicious transition."

"We don't want to be involved in someone else getting in with the same situation."

"We want… pic.twitter.com/GQi7hoY9wc

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 3, 2026

BREAKING: The United States is RUNNING the country of Venezuela until a leader replaces Maduro

“WE are going to run the country, until a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

“We don’t want to be involved in someone else getting in with the same situation.”

“We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela.”

Some people were floating Maria Corina Machado — Veneuzela’s opposition leader who dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump — as a possibility to become the country’s next president.

However, President Trump said that this isn’t likely to happen because she lacks support:

Trump on María Corina Machado: "I think it'd be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman but she doesn't have the respect." pic.twitter.com/jps4NBKLfp

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 3, 2026

Looks like Marco just got yet another job!

I support this 💯 https://t.co/MFckQ5VWqr

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 3, 2026

In all seriousness, this is a huge deal, with even bigger implications.

In effect, the U.S. running Venezuela means that we now control the largest oil reserves in the world — at least, temporarily.

Take a look at this:

In case you don't realize what just happened:

Venezuela holds the LARGEST oil reserves in the world, at 300 billion barrels.

The US is now "running" Venezuela with large US oil companies moving in, according to Trump.

The US now controls the largest oil reserve in the world. pic.twitter.com/cpBfZpTWC6

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) January 3, 2026

President Trump noted that running Venezuela, and in turn, their oil reserves, won’t cost us anything.

Watch what he had to say:

🚨 JUST IN: President Trump says the United States running Venezuela will cost $0 DOLLARS because we will make it back using their oil 🔥

"The money coming out of the ground is substantial! We're gonna take back the oil…we will get reimbursed." pic.twitter.com/A8Q3fgDVgd

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 3, 2026

He’s sending American oil companies into Venezuela to start making money for the country — and to reimburse ours for the efforts.

NBC News has more:

In his remarks, Trump did not clarify what it would mean for the U.S. to “run” Venezuela but said that U.S. oil companies were prepared to make major investments in the country.

“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” he said.

The U.S. president added that the U.S. military was prepared to strike Venezuela again if needed.

“We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so. So we were prepared to do a second wave if we need to do so,” Trump added.

After questions from reporters about whether the U.S. running Venezuela will involve military personnel on the ground, the president said, “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”

“We don’t mind saying it, but we’re going to make sure that that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain,” he added.

Trump said that it wouldn’t cost the U.S. anything to “run” Venezuela, pointing to the country’s oil production.

“It won’t cost us anything, because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial,” Trump said.

Later, he added to reporters, “We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela, and it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country.”

If you want to see President Trump’s full press conference today following the capture of Maduro, you can watch it right here:

President Trump Holds a Press Conference, Jan. 3, 2026 https://t.co/5ykCqSNuNa

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 3, 2026

What do you think?