A week after the United States ‘captured’ Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro and flew him out of his country, President Donald Trump has posted a picture of himself as the “acting president of Venezuela”.
The doctored photo post shared via his Truth Social media platform on Sunday mimicked his Wikipedia page.
Trump declared himself as the acting leader of the South American country as of January 2026.
After the US captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Trump said the US would take over Venezuela’s affairs.
“We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and end up with the same situation we’ve had for a long period of years,” he said, adding that any transition “has to be judicious, because that’s what we’re all about”.
Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s vice-president and oil minister, was later sworn in as interim president. Trump had described Rodríguez as “gracious”.
Despite the softer stance than the tone dealt her principal, Trump warned Rodríguez that she would fare “probably worse” than Maduro if she did not cooperate.
Trump’s warning came as he said Venezuela will turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the US.
He also demanded that Venezuela sever ties with China, Cuba, Russia, and Iran, partner the US exclusively on oil production.
Rodriguez said her country would open up the oil market to Washington.
