President Donald Trump announced Saturday that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as the new head of Venezuela following the capture of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces earlier in the day. Trump said Rodríguez, who was appointed by Maduro, agreed to cooperate with U.S. authorities to help stabilize the country.
“I understand she was just sworn in,” Trump told reporters, noting that Rodríguez was “picked by Maduro.” He said Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth would form a “team” to work with the Venezuelan people and ensure the nation’s future. “She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to Make Venezuela great again, very simple,” the president said.
Trump acknowledged the unusual circumstances of the transition. “Because for us to just leave, who’s gonna take over? I mean, there’s nobody to take over,” he said. “You have a Vice President who’s been appointed by Maduro, and right now she is the Vice President and she is, I guess, the President. She was sworn as President just a little while ago. She had a long conversation with Marco and she said, ‘We’ll do whatever you need.’ I think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn’t have a choice.”
Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s vice president since 2018 and became oil minister in 2024. She and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, who heads the socialist-controlled National Assembly, form one of the regime’s most influential civilian power blocs. The Venezuelan vice presidency is not an elected post but one freely appointed and removed by the president under the country’s constitution.
At press time, Rodríguez’s actual location remained unclear. Reuters cited “four sources familiar with her movements” saying she was in Russia, a report that the Russian Foreign Ministry called “fake.” Earlier on Saturday, Rodríguez spoke to regime state television channel VTV, claiming the Venezuelan government had no information about Maduro’s whereabouts after his capture, along with his wife Cilia Flores. She demanded that the U.S. provide “proof of life” for both.
Rodríguez has been targeted by sanctions in the past. In 2018, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned her, her brother Jorge, Flores, and other Maduro loyalists. The European Union also imposed sanctions on Delcy Rodríguez that year for undermining democracy in Venezuela.
Trump’s announcement marks a dramatic escalation in U.S. involvement in Venezuela’s crisis. By placing Rodríguez in charge, even temporarily, the administration appears to be attempting a rapid transition of power while asserting American influence. Rubio and Hegseth’s roles emphasize coordination with Venezuelan officials and local leaders to stabilize the oil-rich nation after years of misrule and economic collapse under socialist governance.
