Graham Says Venezuela Can Transition Post-Maduro Without US Troops

‘If they don’t play ball with us, they’ll pay a heavy price,' Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said of the South American nation’s interim leadership.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 3, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Jan. 6 that U.S. troops weren’t necessary for Venezuela to undergo a successful transition of power.

Following the Jan. 3 raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would run Venezuela until there can be a proper transition of power. His comments have prompted questions from lawmakers and journalists about how the United States would oversee the South American country in the interim.

Rather than using the Jan. 3 raid as a direct opening to install a more long-term replacement, Trump has thus far given Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, some breathing room to act as the interim head of state.

“We’re going to leave the regime in place to get a goal achieved of building up the country and transitioning to an election. That’s what we’re going to do,” Graham said on Tuesday.

“We don’t need 100,000 troops to do that.”

After Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed lawmakers about the situation in Venezuela on Jan. 5, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the Trump administration’s plan for managing Venezuela’s power transition is “vague, based on wishful thinking, and unsatisfying.”

In further comments on the Senate floor on Monday night, Schumer questioned whether Trump’s plan for temporarily managing Venezuela would require a commitment of U.S. troops. Thus far, Trump has only warned that Rodríguez would face further consequences if she proves uncooperative.

Graham reiterated Trump’s warning to Venezuela’s interim leader to cooperate.

“If they don’t play ball with us, they'll pay a heavy price,” the senator told reporters.

At another point, Graham told reporters that the operation to seize Maduro and manage Venezuela through new elections should not be viewed as an act of interventionism.

“America First is taking countries that hurt America, and change them,” he said.

“Interventionism is just going somewhere without a real good reason, ‘I can take it because I want to take it.’ There’s a policy here of dealing with the drug caliphate in our backyard. I thoroughly applaud it.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) similarly said the Trump administration’s approach to Venezuela “is not a regime change.”

“This is a demand for change of behavior by a regime. The interim government is stood up now, and we are hopeful that they will be able to correct their action,” Johnson said following Hegseth’s and Rubio’s briefings to Congress.