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Trump: US to run Venezuela after Maduro capture, not afraid to have troops on the ground
US President Donald Trump speaks as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio look on during a press conference following a strike on Venezuela, where President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured, from Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, January 3, 2026.
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that the United States will run Venezuela with a group, and said Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be working on the details.
Trump, at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, said the United States does not fear putting American troops on the ground in Venezuela after the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro.
"We're not afraid of boots on the ground," he said.
He expressed doubt as to whether Venezuela's opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, can run that country, saying she does not have the support or respect of the people.
Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida that he has not been in touch with Machado after the overnight arrest of President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest ahead of the Friday inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 9, 2025.
The Trump administration notified members of Congress about the military operation in Venezuela immediately afterward it was done, Rubio told reporters on Saturday.
"This is not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on," Rubio said.
"It was a trigger-based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night."
"Congress has a tendency to leak," Trump added.
A top US military officer said on Saturday that the operation involving Venezuela included more than 150 aircraft and was carried out on the direct orders of President Donald Trump.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine said Trump ordered the military at 10:46 p.m. ET on Friday to move forward with the Venezuela mission.
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