WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump told reporters while departing the White House on Jan. 16 that he is working with interim Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodríguez rather than aligning with opposition leader María Corina Machado because he wants to maintain stability in the region.
He said his decision was based on a desire to avoid a power vacuum that might emerge if the entire regime were swiftly dismantled, noting the challenges faced in Iraq after U.S. forces invaded.
“If you ever remember a place called Iraq where everybody was fired, every single person, the police, the generals, everybody was fired, and they ended up being ISIS,” Trump said. “Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being ISIS.”
The remarks came a day after he met with Machado, who presented the president with the Nobel Peace Prize she was awarded in 2025.
“I had a great meeting yesterday with a person who I have a lot of respect for, and she has respect, obviously, for me and our country,” Trump said. “But I'll tell you what, I got to know her. I never met her before, and I was very, very impressed. She’s a really, this is a fine woman.”
The U.S. president earlier expressed his doubts about the level of domestic support Machado had in order to lead the nation through existing political headwinds.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president’s perspective was “based on realities on the ground.”
“It was a realistic assessment based on what the president was reading and hearing from his advisers and national security team, and at this moment in time, his opinion on that matter has not changed,” Leavitt said.
Trump spoke with Rodríguez on Jan. 14 about the future of Venezuela.
“This partnership between the United States of America and Venezuela will be spectacular one FOR ALL. Venezuela will soon be great and prosperous again, perhaps more so than ever before!”
The Venezuelan leader described the discussion as productive.
Rodríguez assumed the leadership position following the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, by the U.S. military in Caracas on Jan. 3.
Trump cautioned Rodríguez immediately after the operation that her fate could be worse than Maduro’s—who is facing narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges and is in a federal prison facility in New York City—if she fails to “do what’s right.”
Trump moved to revitalize the oil-rich nation with an agreement to refine up to 50 million barrels of oil in the United States. Oil and gas companies have committed to investing up to $100 billion to jump-start the industry.
Revenues will help rebuild Venezuela’s crumbling infrastructure and fund humanitarian efforts, according to the U.S. president.
Decades of socialist rule under the regimes of Hugo Chavez and Maduro resulted in economic weakness, and millions of Venezuelans fled the country to avoid food shortages and poor living conditions.
Trump said the United States will oversee the nation’s political and economic systems until conditions allow for free and fair elections.
