TRUMP has said the US will run Venezuela for years and give its oil riches to the people.
It comes after the US captured Venezuelan tyrant Nicolas Maduro and vowed to send its oil companies back into the Latin American country.
Trump said: “We will rebuild it in a very profitable way.
“We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
The president initially refused to pin a time-scale on how long the US will have a direct say in Venezuelan affairs.
But he later admitted it would be “much longer” than a year, according to the New York Times.
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Trump also did not say when new elections in Venezuela might take place after he endorsed Rodríguez in favour of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Since the brazen capture of the Maduro, the streets of Caracas have erupted in chaos with supporters taking to the streets in solidarity of their toppled tyrant.
On Wednesday Venezuela’s interior minister Diosdado Cabello said 100 people died in the US attack which snatched Maduro from power on Saturday.
Officials have said a large part of Maduro’s security contingent was killed “in cold blood” in the overnight operation.
And Cuba has said 32 members of its military and intelligence services in Venezuela were killed.
Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores, detained alongside him, suffered a head injury during the raid, Cabello said, and Maduro an injury to his leg.
As unrest in the capital continues, Trump has said his administration is in “constant communication” with the interim president.
He added: “They’re treating us with great respect.
“As you know, we’re getting along very well with the administration that is there right now.”
Secretary of State Marcus Rubio, dubbed the “Viceroy of Venezuela”, later unveiled Washington’s plans for Venezuela’s huge oil supply – the largest in the world.
Describing a “three-fold process” for Venezuela, he laid out the first step which he called “stabilisation”.
He said: “Step one is the stabilization of the country. We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil.
“We are going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates. We will control how that money is dispersed.”
Speaking on step two, he said: “The second phase will be recovery, ensuring that American, Western, and other countries have access to Venezuelan markets.”
He then said: “The third phase will be one of transition.”
Outlining the same plan, Trump said on Truth Social: “I am pleased to announce that the Interim Authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.
“This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and 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!
He added: “It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.”
And US officials have said they will start rolling back sanctions on Venezuelan oil.
The potential 50 million barrels could be worth up to £2.1billion, analysts say – but it is unclear how these funds will be distributed between Caracas and Washington.
It comes after US special forces seized a rogue Russia-linked oil tanker with the help of the British military in a commando-style raid in the Atlantic on Wednesday.
The rusting Marinera tanker, accused of breaching the US oil sanctions on Venezuela, is now in the custody of Washington after a two-week chase.
The Russians had scrambled a submarine and naval vessels to try to guard the Marinera tanker this morning as it attempted to evade Trump’s Venezuela blockade.
But Moscow’s last-ditch efforts to secure the secretive tanker were thwarted when US troops boarded the vessel hours later.
Rubio said seizing the oil tankers was part of a “grand plan” to ensure Washington has a huge bargaining chip over Venezuela.
He said: “We are playing chess for maximum leverage.”