U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Monday that he is ruling out the possibility of holding elections in Venezuela in the short term following the incursion in which U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, an event after which the White House occupant declared that he himself is in charge of the Caribbean country.
“First we have to fix the country. You can’t hold elections. It’s impossible for people to vote,” the Republican magnate said in an interview with NBC, dismissing the one-month timeframe suggested in one of the questions: “No, it will take a while.” “We have to take care of the country until it recovers,” he added.
He also pointed to U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and his advisor Stephen Miller as key members of a group with “different expertise” that will oversee Washington’s role in Venezuela. However, he answered with a concise “me” when asked who is ultimately responsible for the U.S. management of the Caribbean country.
His words are consistent with the narrative he has established since the intervention against Maduro, during which he already warned on Sunday that he himself was “in charge” of Venezuela, in statements to the press in which he avoided addressing the possibility of forcing an election or the release of Venezuelan political prisoners.
