By Admin. Updated 1:33 p.m., Saturday, January 3, 2026, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).
United States President Donald Trump has stated that America will administer Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition” can take place.
Mr Trump spoke at a press conference on Saturday following a US military operation in Venezuela, during which President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and key military bases were bombed. Mr. Trump said Mr. Maduro will be tried on narcotics-related charges on U.S soil.
The operation has provoked outrage among thousands of Venezuelans, while eliciting celebrations from many others—including those who fled the country seeking better lives after US sanctions began crippling Venezuela’s economy in 2013.
Venezuela’s allies, including Russia, have condemned the move, while US allies such as the United Kingdom and Trinidad and Tobago have distanced themselves from the attack.
Fears of retaliation from nations like Russia and China have surfaced, though the US has indicated its readiness to launch a second wave of operations if necessary.
“We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. And it has to be judicious because that’s what we’re all about,” Mr Trump said.
“We want peace, liberty, and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country. It’s their homeland. And we can’t take a chance if somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind. We’ve had decades of that,” Mr Trump added. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
The U.S. has recognized and favoured Edmundo González as the “legitimate” president of Venezuela after the July 2024 Presidential Election in which Maduro was returned to office for another six-year term and main opposition challenger González placed second. The U.S. said it didn’t recognize the results of those elections calling Maduro’s regime illegitimate, but Maduro has maintained that the elections were free and fair. Before González the U.S had recognized Juan Guaido who previously ran for President.
In relation to the transition, it is not clear if Mr. González or Mr Guaido will be placed in the presidency by the U.S. or if recognition will be given to Venezuela’s current Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to transition into the new leadership role of the country in the post-Maduro era.
Brief Background
The strikes on 3 January follow months of US military build-up and operations in the Caribbean Sea, including attacks on vessels designated by the US as involved in narcotrafficking. They also occur amid longstanding US efforts, such as a bounty on President Nicolás Maduro and the recent seizure of several sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers.
The Venezuelan government has accused the US of seeking to seize the country’s strategic resources—particularly oil and minerals—to undermine its political independence, insisting: “They will not succeed.”
“This act constitutes a flagrant violation of the Charter of the United Nations, especially Articles 1 and 2, which enshrine the respect for the sovereignty, the legal equality of States, and the prohibition of the use of force. Such an aggression threatens international peace and stability, specifically in Latin America and the Caribbean, and puts the lives of millions of people at serious risk,” the Venezuelan government stated on Saturday.
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