Donald Trump says US not at war with Venezuela, rules out early polls

Underlining a carefully choreographed calm, US President Donald Trump insisted that Washington is “not at war” with Venezuela and has no immediate plans to press for elections there, arguing that the battered nation must first be steadied and rebuilt after the dramatic capture of its long-time leader, Nicolás Maduro.

In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Trump said elections were not on the horizon, dismissing the prospect of a vote within the next 30 days as unrealistic amid Venezuela’s deep crisis. “We have to fix the country first,” he said, painting a picture of a nation too fragile for the rituals of democracy. “You can’t have an election if people can’t even vote.”

The president described the US role as that of a caretaker, focused on restoring basic order and reviving a shattered economy. “We have to nurse the country back to health,” Trump said, signalling that the transition would be deliberate rather than swift.

Energy, he suggested, would be the engine of recovery. US oil companies, Trump said, could spearhead the rebuilding of Venezuela’s decayed energy infrastructure, potentially completing the task in under 18 months. While Washington may subsidise parts of the effort, he stressed that private firms would shoulder the bulk of the costs and eventually recoup their investments.

“A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent,” he said. “The oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.”

Trump brushed aside accusations that the United States had plunged into a new foreign war. “No, we’re not,” he said. “We’re at war with people that sell drugs,” expanding the battlefield to include what he described as criminal networks and social ills spilling across borders.

Placing blame squarely on Venezuela’s former leadership, Trump accused it of exporting crime and chaos. Maduro, seized in a US raid in Caracas, now faces charges in New York including narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking conspiracies.

Trump said Delcy Rodríguez has been cooperating with US officials, but firmly denied any prior coordination with her camp before Maduro’s removal. A decision on whether sanctions against her would remain, he added, would come soon.

Asked who now ultimately commands Venezuela’s fate, Trump offered a stark, one-word reply: “Me.”

He praised secretary of state Marco Rubio’s central role in back-channel diplomacy, noting that Rubio “speaks to her fluently in Spanish” and that their rapport has been “very strong.”

Yet beneath the measured tone lay a warning. Trump said the United States was prepared to launch a second military incursion if cooperation faltered, though he insisted he did not expect that to be necessary. “We’re prepared to do it,” he said. “We anticipated doing it, actually.”

Responding to criticism over the lack of congressional approval, Trump claimed lawmakers were not in the dark. “We have good support congressionally,” he said, declining to specify who knew what — and when.

With IANS inputs