US President Donald Trump said Venezuela must be restored to “law and order” and economic discipline before rushing into elections. In an exclusive interview with the New York Post, He said, “…first, we have to run the country right.”
‘We can take advantage’
Trump stressed that Venezuela’s economy is on the brink following decades of plunder and mismanagement by the socialists.
“The country is ready to be — it’s literally become a third-world country ready to fail,” he was quoted by the New York Post as saying.
Rather than rushing into elections, Trump said the priority should be stabilizing a nation on the brink — and that it would be a win-win situation for both the US and Venezuela.
“We should run the country with law and order. We should run the country where we can take advantage of the economics of what they have, which is valuable oil and valuable other things,” Trump was quoted as saying.
Trump also took a victory lap over the US military operation, describing it as a textbook mission executed with precision and restraint.
“It was a great victory. We took care of business. We had nobody killed, a couple of guys wounded. We lost no helicopters or jets or planes,” he said. “We had a complete and total victory — that’s the way it should be.”
On Venezuela’s political future
Trump argued that Venezuela’s collapse makes elections a secondary concern. “We should run the country properly,” Trump was quoted by the New York Post as saying.
On Venezuela’s political future, Trump asserted that it will come — but only after the country is stabilized.
“Maybe [Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado] should run. Maybe somebody else should run,” Trump said. “But first, we have to run the country right,” he added.
speaking to The Postt on Sunday, Trump brushed aside questions about backing opposition figures — including Machado — saying none currently command the support needed to lead the country.
“I don’t think she’s got the support of the people that she has to have,” Trump said. “That’s all.” He added: “She [Machado] could only win an election if I did support her. But I like her very much.”
US bombs Venezuela
President Donald Trump has maintained that the US will oversee Venezuela’s government for the time being, following military strikes in the country to capture Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
On Saturday, Washington carried out a “large-scale strike against Venezuela”, and Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured and flown out of the country.
Maduro is in a New York detention center awaiting a Monday court appearance on drug charges.
Meanwhile, at least 40 people, including military personnel and civilians, were killed in a US strike on Venezuela early Saturday, The New York Times reported, citing a senior Venezuelan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Later, Trump, speaking at a press conference from Palm Beach, Florida, said the United States would run the country “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition”. He said the US action was aimed at bringing “outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice”.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We want peace, justice and liberty for the great people of Venezuela…,” Trump said.
“We can’t take a chance if somebody else takes over Venezuela, doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind,” Trump said.
“We’re not going to let that happen. We are there now, but we are going to stay until such time as a proper transition takes place. We’re going to run it essentially until such time,” the President added.
(With inputs from agencies)
