From NBC News: Venezuela will not have new elections in the next 30 days, President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Monday, projecting a longer-term engagement two days after U.S. forces captured that nation’s leader, Nicolás Maduro.
Moreover, he said, the U.S. may subsidize an effort by oil companies to rebuild the country’s energy infrastructure — a project he said could take less than 18 months.
“We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote,” Trump said regarding a vote in the next month. “No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have to nurse the country back to health.”
Regarding the rebuilding of the oil industry in Venezuela, Trump said, “I think we can do it in less time than [18 months], but it’ll be a lot of money. A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.”
Trump went on to insist that the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela.
“We’re at war with people that sell drugs. We’re at war with people that empty their prisons into our country and empty their drug addicts and empty their mental institutions into our country.”
As for who is ultimately in charge as the U.S. oversees these changes in Venezuela, Trump said, “Me.”
He said a group of U.S. officials — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller, and Vice President JD Vance — will all figure prominently in the process.
“It’s a group of all. They have all expertise, different expertise,” he said.
WATCH:
Read more at NBC News
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