By Enyichukwu Enemanna
US President Donald Trump has declared himself the “acting president” of Venezuela, posting a photo card to his social media platform Truth Social announcing his claim.
The move follows recent US military action and political intervention in the South American country, according to PTI.
The post carried Trump’s official portrait and described him as “Acting President of Venezuela, ‘Incumbent January 2026.’” It also listed his designation as the 45th and 47th President of the United States, noting that he assumed office on January 20, 2025. PTI reported that the image was shared directly on Truth Social.
The post comes after the United States earlier this month carried out what it described as a “large-scale” strike against Venezuela, during which the country’s leader Nicolas Maduro was captured. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were flown to New York, where they were indicted on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges.
Trump has said that the US will “run Venezuela ‘until such time as 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.’”
Venezuela’s vice president and oil minister, Delcy Rodriguez, was formally sworn in as the country’s interim president last week.
Trump has also stated that the interim authorities in Venezuela would turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of what he described as “high-quality, sanctioned oil” to the United States, to be sold at market price.
Explaining how the proceeds would be handled, Trump said: “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.”
