White House seeks to reassure Republicans over Venezuela’s future

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Senior US officials sought to allay Republican concerns about prolonged involvement in Venezuela, as Democrats criticized the White House for lacking a strategy after the ouster of the country’s leader.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other senior officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, held a more than two-hour secret briefing with top lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the operation, which opened a new chapter of US intervention in the Western Hemisphere.

Following last weekend’s military operation to arrest Nicolas Maduro and transfer him to the United States for trial, Donald Trump pledged that officials in Washington would now “manage” and be “in charge” of the country, without providing details on how this would be done.

“I’m very concerned about what happens next, about leadership, about democracy, about preparedness [the administration to] “Making sure the people of Venezuela participate in that democracy,” said Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Trump’s critics on Capitol Hill attacked the White House for failing to notify Congress of Maduro’s arrest, and for turning its back on campaign pledges not to start new conflicts.

Republican congressional leaders after a news conference on Monday downplayed the idea that the United States would administer Venezuela, as Trump suggested, or send troops.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters, “This is not regime change. This is a demand to change the behavior of the regime.” He added, “We do not expect the presence of forces on the ground. We do not expect direct intervention in any other way beyond simply forcing the new interim government to move forward with this matter.”

Congressman Brian Mast, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said:[Trump] We had a very limited operation in Iran against their nuclear infrastructure, and now a very limited operation in Venezuela, and again, we had breakfast. “Long-term war is not the management style of this administration.”

Trump’s claims that the United States would take control of Venezuela came even as Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s second-in-command, replaced the captive leader at the head of the regime.

Asked on Monday whether the United States would allow Rodriguez and the rest of the Maduro administration to remain in power, Johnson said: “There are more questions about how it will ultimately be resolved than answers at the moment. That is to be expected.”

Removing the rest of the regime “will leave a void,” Mast said.

Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, said the White House’s plan for “US administration of Venezuela is vague, wishful thinking, and unsatisfactory.”

He added: “I have not received any guarantees that we will not try to do the same thing in other countries.”

Speaking to NBC earlier in the day, Trump stressed that the United States is not “at war” with Venezuela.

He said: “We are at war with the people who sell drugs. We are at war with the people who are emptying their prisons in our country, emptying drug addicts, and emptying their mental institutions in our country.”

Trump also insisted that US access to Venezuelan oil is a key demand, and said Washington could compensate oil companies that invest in the country.

The president acknowledged Monday that US drilling companies will need to spend “a very significant amount of money” to upgrade Venezuela’s crumbling energy infrastructure, but insisted they “will do very well.”

He added: “Enormous amounts of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then we will compensate for it by us, or through revenues.”

Trump said that US oil companies – most of which left the country in recent decades after Caracas expropriated their ownership – would come back and take a “tremendous amount of wealth from the Earth.”

But even though Venezuela has the world’s largest crude oil reserves, major oil groups have been reluctant to rush into commitments as the country leads into turmoil.

Trump said Monday that the oil industry could get its new operations up and running in less than 18 months. “I think we can do it in less time than that, but it will take a lot of money.”

The US president’s pledge to compensate oil companies for investing in Venezuela could amplify criticism of intervention from both Democrats, the isolationist wing of the Republican Party, and Trump’s own base.

Trump is already facing criticism for prioritizing control of Venezuela’s natural resources over the transition to democracy, and neglecting domestic concerns such as inflation and the cost of living by focusing on his foreign policy goals.

Speaking to NBC, Trump insisted he would not suffer a backlash among his supporters, saying: “MAGA loves it. MAGA loves what I do. MAGA loves everything I do.”