The acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, said on Sunday that she was willing to cooperate with the United States following the capture of Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, an operation she initially described with hostility as “barbaric” and an “illegal and illegitimate kidnapping.” She had also lauded Maduro as “the only president of Venezuela” and demanded the “immediate release” of him and his wife.
“We invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” Rodriguez, who also serves as Venezuela's oil minister, said. “President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
JUST IN: 🇻🇪🇺🇸 Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodriguez invites the United States to work with her country.
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) January 5, 2026
"We extend an invitation to the US government to work together on a cooperation agenda." pic.twitter.com/IR5ntvzrgr
On Sunday night, President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that his goal was to "fix" a "broken country" rather than effect regime change. He did, however, warn that “if they don’t behave, we will do a second strike.”
President Trump also said he has not yet spoken with Rodríguez, but will do so “at the right time." He refused to say whether he made any promises to Rodríguez in exchange for her compliance with the U.S., saying only that “she’s cooperating.”
The president also warned that if Rodríguez refused to cooperate, "she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro."
.@POTUS reiterates that if the acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez doesn't do what's right, "she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro." pic.twitter.com/WXk6S0u79S
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 5, 2026
“We have to do one thing in Venezuela: Bring it back,” Trump said. “It’s a dead country right now … We have to bring it back. And we’re going to need big investments from the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure. Companies are ready to go. They’re going to go in. They’re going to rebuild the infrastructure.”
Later clarifying, “We’re not going to invest anything. We’re going just to take care of the country. We’re going to cherish the country. We’re going to take care of, more importantly, the people, including Venezuelans, who are living in our country, who were forced to leave their country. And they’re going to be taken very good care of.”
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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