U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 3rd (local time) that the United States will govern Venezuela until a stable transfer of power to a new government is achieved following the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
On this day, after the U.S. military's attack on Venezuela, President Trump held a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida and said, "We will run the country (Venezuela) until we can carry out a safe, appropriate and wise transfer of power."
He added, "We cannot risk someone else taking control of Venezuela who does not consider the well-being of the Venezuelan people," and said, "We are now in Venezuela and will remain until an appropriate transfer can take place."
Trump also said that he would "run (Venezuela) with a group."
Trump also said he understands that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has succeeded to the presidency, and noted that the person has expressed a willingness to do what the United States wants.
Trump also suggested the possibility of stationing U.S. troops during the U.S. governance period, saying he was "not afraid" regarding the deployment of U.S. ground forces to Venezuela.
He said, "The U.S. fleet is maintaining a standby posture at its current location (off the coast near Venezuela)," and stressed, "The United States retains all military options." He warned, "Every politician and soldier in Venezuela should know that what happened to Maduro could happen to them until U.S. demands are fully met."
Trump said the operation in which the U.S. military attacked Venezuela and captured President Maduro was "one of the most astonishing strikes in U.S. history and effectively and powerfully demonstrated U.S. military strength and capability."
He said, "No country in the world could achieve what the United States accomplished in such a short time," adding, "In cooperation with U.S. law enforcement, our military successfully apprehended President Maduro in the middle of the night, and all operational capabilities of the Venezuelan military were neutralized."
Trump also said that in Venezuela, where President Maduro has been ousted, "very large U.S. oil companies will go in and spend billions of dollars to restore the severely damaged oil infrastructure," adding, "(The oil corporations) will start making money for Venezuela."
Trump formalized that strengthening and maintaining U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere was among the objectives of this strike. Seemingly mindful of China's expanding presence in Latin America, he said, "The United States will never allow outside powers to plunder our people in the Western Hemisphere or to push us inside the hemisphere or drive us out." He added, "Under our new National Security Strategy (NSS), U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never again be called into question."
Trump said that President Maduro and his spouse, who were indicted by U.S. prosecutors in 2020 on "narco-terrorism" charges, will be extradited to New York to stand trial. Trump said he expects the venue to be "New York or Miami," adding, "We are prepared to present overwhelming evidence of (the Maduro couple's) crimes in court."