Trump declares himself ‘Acting President of Venezuela’ on Truth Social
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New York: US President Donald Trump has described himself as the “Acting President of Venezuela” in a post on Truth Social, sharing a picture of his purported Wikipedia profile on Monday, January 12.
The post features Trump’s official portrait alongside the designation: “Acting President of Venezuela, Incumbent January 2026”, in addition to noting his position as the 45th and 47th President of the United States, having assumed office on January 20, 2025.
Earlier this month, the United States conducted a “large-scale” strike against Venezuela, capturing the country’s leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. They were flown to New York, where they were indicted on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges.
Trump stated that the US will “run Venezuela until we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. We can’t take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the interests of Venezuelans in mind.”
Last week, Venezuela’s Vice President and Oil Minister, Delcy Rodriguez, was formally sworn in as the country’s interim president.
Trump further claimed that the interim authorities in Venezuela will hand over between 30 and 50 million barrels of “high-quality, sanctioned oil” to the US, which will be sold at market price.
“That money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States! I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan immediately. It will be taken by storage ships and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States,” he added.
With PTI inputs
