US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Venezuela will not hold new elections within the next 30 days, telling NBC News that the country must first be stabilized following the US operation that captured President Nicolas Maduro two days earlier.
"We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote," Trump said when asked about the possibility of a vote in the coming month. "No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have - we have to nurse the country back to health."
Trump added that the US may subsidize efforts by oil companies to rebuild Venezuela’s energy infrastructure, a project he said could take less than 18 months. "I think we can do it in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money," he said. "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 also insisted the US is not at war with Venezuela. "No, we’re not," Trump said. "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."
During the 20‑minute interview, Trump identified Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller and Vice President JD Vance as the officials who will help oversee US involvement in Venezuela. "It's a group of all. They have all expertise, different expertise," he said. Asked who is ultimately in charge, he replied: “Me."
The interview with Trump aired hours after Maduro was arraigned in New York on charges including narco‑terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty, asserting he remains Venezuela’s leader, even as Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in Monday as his successor.
Trump said Rodríguez has been cooperating with US officials but denied any communication between her camp and Washington before Maduro’s removal. "No, that’s not the case," he said, adding that a decision will soon be made on whether sanctions against her will remain in place.
Asked whether there was "any deal with any official in Venezuela to remove" Maduro, Trump said, "Well, yeah, because a lot of people wanted to make a deal, but we decided to do it this way," emphasizing it was done without help from Maduro’s inner circle.
Trump declined to say whether he has spoken to Rodríguez, but noted that Rubio "speaks to her fluently in Spanish" and that their "relationship has been very strong."
He also reiterated that the US could launch a second military incursion into Venezuela if Rodríguez stops cooperating, though he does not expect that to be necessary. "We’re prepared to do it," he said. "We anticipated doing it, actually."