Trump Puts Venezuela’s New “President” on Notice — Delcy Rodríguez Threatened With a Fate Worse Than Captured Tyrant Maduro
President Trump has issued a stark warning to Venezuela’s newly sworn-in interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez.
Fresh off the decisive ouster of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, Trump made it crystal clear, play ball with America or face consequences far worse than the captured tyrant’s humiliating downfall.
On January 3, 2026, Venezuela’s Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo de Justicia) ordered Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the duties of acting president. The court cited a provision for “material and temporary impossibility” of Maduro to exercise his functions.
During a fiery press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Saturday, President Trump declared that the United States will administer Venezuela “for a period of time” until a safe, “judicious transition” can be established.
At the same conference, President Trump revealed that Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, had been elevated to the presidency amid the chaos following the U.S.-backed removal of the brutal regime.
According to Trump, early communications suggested Rodríguez was prepared to work with the United States to stabilize the country and reverse decades of socialist destruction.
“[Secretary of State] Marco is working on that directly,” Trump said, referring to Marco Rubio. “He just had a conversation with Rodríguez, and she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
That narrative collapsed in less than two hours.
In a televised address on the state channel VTV, Rodríguez, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with what she called Venezuela’s “National Defense Council,” condemned the U.S. operation as an “illegal and illegitimate kidnapping” and a “barbaric” act, the New York Times reported.
“We are determined to be free,” Rodríguez declared. “What is being done to Venezuela is a barbarity.”
She accused Washington of orchestrating regime change under “false pretenses,” claiming the true objective was the seizure of Venezuela’s oil, minerals, and natural resources.
Rodríguez insisted that Maduro remains Venezuela’s “only president.” She declared that Venezuela would continue Maduro’s policies and “never be a colony ever again.”
Both Venezuela’s defense minister and attorney general piled on with their own public smears against President Trump and the heroic U.S. military action that finally ended Maduro’s reign of terror.
Unmoved, Trump delivered a blunt ultimatum.
In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump made clear that Rodríguez is now on borrowed time.
“She’ll pay a very big price—probably bigger than Maduro—if she doesn’t do what’s right,” Trump said, adding that his administration would not tolerate open rejection of U.S. authority after the operation that ended Maduro’s reign.
Defending his approach, Trump dismissed left-wing handwringing over “regime change.”
“Rebuilding there and regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now,” he said. “Can’t get any worse.”
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