President Donald Trump admitted that “only time will tell” how long the United States will run Venezuela, as it may take years to revive the country’s oil sector, according to a report.
When asked by The New York Times on Wednesday whether U.S. oversight of the South American country would last three months, six months, a year or longer, Trump replied: “I would say much longer.”
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump said. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
On Wednesday, administration officials announced that the U.S. plans to indefinitely control Venezuelan oil sales as a means to stabilize the country’s economy and rebuild its neglected oil sector. Officials say the U.S. will maintain the country’s massive reserves to ensure proceeds from sales are used “for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people.”
The controversial declaration also comes days after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, along with his wife, Cilia Flores, on Saturday. The pair, extradited to New York, pleaded not guilty to four narco-terrorism charges.
During the lengthy interview, Trump declined to say why he recognized Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as the country’s interim leader instead of backing María Corina Machado, the opposition leader who led a successful election campaign against Maduro in 2024.
Without divulging many details, Trump noted the U.S. was “getting along very well” with Rodriguez’s government in Venezuela.
“Marco speaks to her all the time,” he said. “I will tell you that we are in constant communication with her and the administration.”
On Tuesday, Trump shared a plan to refine and sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil that had been stuck in Venezuela under U.S. blockade, indicating a willingness between Venezuela and Washington to work together in the wake of Maduro’s capture.
Trump, however, offered no timeline for that process, telling the Times, “The oil will take a while.”
Trump reiterated that Maduro’s allies in Venezuela were cooperating with the U.S.
“They’re giving us everything that we feel is necessary,” Trump said about the Venezuelan government.
The U.S. Senate on Thursday will consider a resolution to block Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela without congressional approval.
The resolution, which needs a majority to advance, is the first congressional test to see if Republicans will publicly take a stand against Trump’s actions in Venezuela.
The measure was introduced by Sen.s Tim Kaine (D-Va), Rand Paul, (R-Ky), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif).
“This is not the surgical execution of an arrest warrant, it was much bigger than that before last Saturday, and it’s going to be much bigger than that from now for the next few years,” Kaine told reporters Wednesday. “So, this is something that shouldn’t happen without Congress.”
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