US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has said that American oil firms were given advance knowledge of his administration’s attacks on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, and the deposition of the country’s President Nicolas Maduro. 

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday, Trump said that the raid on Caracas, which saw Maduro and his wife captured from their home in a secure military bases, was a “very dangerous operation”. 

Asked about the role of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who has now been sworn in as President by the country’s Supreme Court, Trump said that he would speak with her “at the right time”. 

But he repeatedly said “we’re in charge”, when asked about who would be running the South American country. 

Asked if he is part of planning for elections in the short term in Venezuela, Trump said: “It depends, we have to do one thing in Venezuela, bring it back, it’s a dead country right now. 

“We are going to have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure,” he further said. 

“The oil companies are ready to go, they are going to build back the infrastructure,” Trump added. 

The US President said that the focus is on getting the country “fixed”, and noted that the oil has been flowing “at a very low level” in recent years. 

He said that the US won’t be investing in the country, which has a population in the region of 30 million, but that oil firms will, and that the US will “take care” of the Venezuelan people. 

Trump later added that the country will have elections “at the right time”. 

Reporter: Are you going to demand that Delcy Rodriguez allow opposition figures to return or free any political prisoners?

Trump: We haven't gotten to that. Right now, we want to do is fix up the oil pic.twitter.com/mcVrpvpg7g

— Acyn (@Acyn) January 5, 2026

When asked about his communications with major oil firms Trump said he talked to them “before and after” the mission to capture and detain Maduro. 

“They want to go in and they are going to do a great job,” he answered. 

Meanwhile the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today that Washington will not have a day-to-day role in the running of Venezuela, other than enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on the country. 

Rubio’s comments were thought to be intended to scale back on the impression Trump has created that we could now be seeing the beginning of long-term US interference in Venezeula, or another attempt at nation building in a foreign country. 

Rubio said the US will influence policy in the country by continuing with its oil blockade, 

“And so that’s the sort of control the president is pointing to when he says that,” he told CBS. 

“We continue with that quarantine, and we expect to see that there will be changes, not just in the way the oil industry is run for the benefit of the people, but also so that they stop the drug trafficking,” Rubio added.

The deposed Venezeulan leader Maduro will appear in a New York City court room at noon ET. 

The case against him is a drug trafficking one with multiple charges involved.