Trump says US may control Venezuela for years

President Trump said the U.S. may control Venezuela for years, following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

“I would say much longer,” Trump told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday, when asked if the U.S. would oversee Venezuela for months, a year, or longer.

“Only time will tell,” he added.

Trump noted that the U.S. is looking to “rebuild” Venezuela “in a very profitable way.”

“We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil,” he told The Times. “We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”

Trump added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio “speaks with [Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez] all the time.”

The U.S. military captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, over the weekend, and took them to New York City to face federal conspiracy, drugs, and weapons charges. The couple pleaded not guilty Monday in a federal courthouse in Manhattan.