World
Drama as Trump posts self a ‘Acting President of Venezuela
One week after the United States said it had “captured” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and flown him out of the country, President Donald Trump has shared a picture of himself describing him as the “acting president of Venezuela.”
The edited image, which was posted on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, was designed to look like his Wikipedia page. Trump declared himself the acting leader of the South American nation from January 2026.
After Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken by the US, Trump said the United States would take over the running of Venezuela’s affairs.
“We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and end up with the same situation we’ve had for a long period of years,” he said, adding that any transition “has to be judicious, because that’s what we’re all about”.
Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s vice-president and oil minister, was later sworn in as interim president. Trump had described Rodríguez as “gracious”.
Despite the softer stance than the tone dealt her principal, Trump warned Rodríguez that she would fare “probably worse” than Maduro if she did not cooperate.
Trump’s warning came as he said Venezuela will turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the US.
He also demanded that Venezuela sever ties with China, Cuba, Russia, and Iran, partner the US exclusively on oil production.
Rodriguez said her country would open up the oil market to Washington.

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