This evening, President Trump boarded Air Force One for his triumphal return to D.C. after a very eventful weekend.
While flying back to the White House, President Trump took questions from reporters.
One reporter asked him who is running Venezuela now that Maduro has been captured, to which, President Trump gave a “controversial” response,
“We’re in charge now!”
Listen here:
🚨 Trump on who’s running Venezuela now:
Reporter: “Who’s in charge? Have you spoken to the new president?”
Trump: “We’re dealing with the people just sworn in… Don’t ask me who’s in charge, I’ll give a controversial answer.”
Reporter: “What does that mean?”
Trump: “We’re in… pic.twitter.com/CzAiT4rK9Y
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) January 5, 2026
For the time being, the U.S. is in charge of the country of Venezuela and its vast oil reserves — the largest in the world!
Tonight, President Trump confirmed that we’re running “everything.”
He also implied that the oil reserves in Venezuela are worth far more than the media estimates.
Watch:
🚨 JUST IN: President Trump MEANS BUSINESS when it comes to oil in Venezuela
Q: There's about $17B worth of oil reserves in VZ.
TRUMP: "MORE. It's MUCH more than that!"
Q: What's gonna happen to those reserves?
TRUMP: "We're gonna RUN EVERYTHING!" 🔥pic.twitter.com/neizU4qxno
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 5, 2026
As for who will be Venezuela’s next leader, President Trump says that he will speak to the country’s Vice President when the time is right.
CNN reported:
Trump said that he has not spoken to Rodríguez personally yet, but others have, adding that he will speak to her “at the right time.”
ADVERTISEMENTHe also said that the United States did not offer anything to Rodríguez but noted “she’s cooperating.”
“Venezuela right now is a dead country. We have to bring it back, and we’re gonna have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure ready to go,” Trump said.
Trump rejected the idea that Rodríguez has pushed back against the United States, despite her comments that the operation represents a blatant violation of international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty. She added that the action must be rejected by Venezuelans and condemned by governments across Latin America.
“You hear a different person than I hear,” Trump said.
However, President Trump issued a serious warning to the Venezuelan VP that she better do “what’s right” or he will ensure that she faces a fate even worse than Maduro.
Per The Atlantic:
In a telephone interview this morning, President Donald Trump issued a not-so-veiled threat against the new Venezuelan leader, Delcy Rodríguez, saying that “if she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” referring to Nicolás Maduro, now residing in a New York City jail cell. Trump made clear that he would not stand for Rodríguez’s defiant rejection of the armed U.S. intervention that resulted in Maduro’s capture.
As President Trump said during Saturday’s press conference, he’s not willing to let another Maduro take charge of Venezuela.
He’s going to take all necessary steps to ensure a safe and judicious transfer of power to capable ally that will restore Venezuela to greatness.
Until then, we all know who will take on the responsibility of running Venezuela…
Marco’s look knowing he will be doing the work🤣 pic.twitter.com/ZsMuN9YHFa
— WickedAfterlife (@WAServers) January 5, 2026
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