Trump says the US needs to ‘nurse Venezuela back to health,’ and elections have to wait until this specific thing happens

President Trump just delivered a firm timeline for the future of Venezuela, stating that the country absolutely cannot hold an election until the United States successfully completes a massive rebuilding effort, as per The Hill. The president made it clear in an interview that the U.S. needs to “nurse Venezuela back to health” first, believing that democracy simply can’t function in its current state.

Trump emphasized that the nation is so fractured right now that allowing a vote would be pointless. “We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote,” Trump stated, adding that the recovery “is going to take a period of time. We have, we have to nurse the country back to health.” It seems the administration is viewing this as a major reconstruction project rather than a quick political transition.

He stated that he thinks the U.S. can stabilize the situation in “less time than” 18 months. That’s a pretty tight deadline for rebuilding an entire nation, but it shows the administration is ready to move fast. Of course, speed costs money, and Trump stressed that a “tremendous amount of money will have to be spent.”

The administration is open to supporting major oil companies to help fund and build up Venezuela’s shattered infrastructure

This is where the plan gets really interesting. The president expects the oil companies to front the cash for the initial work. “The oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue,” the president explained. This sounds like a massive public-private partnership, and I think it’s a smart way to leverage industry expertise for a critical rebuild while ensuring future revenue helps cover the costs.

This entire situation stems from the dramatic events that unfolded over the weekend. The U.S. carried out a high-stakes mission to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The pair were subsequently brought to the U.S. and charged with federal drug-trafficking charges. Following that capture, President Trump announced that the U.S. would “run” the country temporarily while the rebuilding process takes place.

To handle the transition and the necessary infrastructure overhaul, the president has put together a high-powered team of U.S. officials. This group includes Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and deputy White House chief of staff Stephen Miller.

Trump noted that they have “all expertise, different expertise” needed for the complicated task ahead. While the group is clearly running the day-to-day operations, the president made sure to confirm that he remains the person ultimately in charge of the entire operation. Meanwhile, on the ground, Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as the country’s president.

President Trump confirmed that Rodríguez is cooperating with the U.S. administration now, though he stressed there had been absolutely no communication with her prior to the mission to capture Maduro. It appears Secretary of State Rubio is handling the bulk of the diplomatic heavy lifting. The president mentioned that Rubio has a “strong” relationship with Rodríguez, and he’s been speaking with her “fluently” in Spanish.