Trump says US will 'run' Venezuela following capture of Maduro

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States will "run" Venezuela after the US military raided the country and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who are being transported to New York.

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida. "We don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country," he said. "We're there now. We're going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place," Trump added, offering no timeline for how long such a transition of power is expected to take.

Trump said he plans to authorize US oil giants to take over and invest in Venezuela's energy infrastructure and "start making money for the country." He later said top US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, would work with a team to help run Venezuela.

Trump refused to rule out the possibility of further US military involvement. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground," he said.

Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the press conference that the US troops will remain in the region following large-scale strikes on Venezuela and the capture of Maduro. "As we stand here this morning, our forces remain in the region at a high state of readiness, prepared to project power, defend themselves and our interests in the region," he said.