Donald Trump weighs in on subsequent Venezuela chief as he takes cost of nation
While Trump hasn’t made up his mind just yet, experts expect him to back opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to take charge in Venezuela after US forces captured President Maduro
In the aftermath of the dramatic seizure of President Nicolas Maduro by US forces, experts are asking who will replace him as leader of Venezuela.
While the deposed despot’s Vice President might be first in line under the country’s constitution, Delcy Rodriguez fled to Russia after her boss was whisked away to New York to face narco-terrorism charges. The dictator’s son, meanwhile, faces prosecution along with his parents.
So the new leader is expected to be opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has said that she and presidential candidate Edmundo González are poised to lead the country, now “the hour of freedom has arrived.”
Machado said she and González are getting set to “immediately” lead the country’s transitional government.
“Today we are prepared to enforce our mandate and take power,” Machado said in her first public comments Saturday, according to the New York Post.
“We are going to restore order, release the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home.”
The US recognized González as the country’s legitimate leader after he trounced Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin in the 2024 election. González ran after Machado was excluded by the Maduro-run high court. Maduro ignored the election results and clung on to power.
President Trump on Saturday said his administration was “making the decision” for who would now govern Venezuela.
“We can’t take a chance on letting somebody else run it just take over where he left,” Trump told Fox News in a call-in interview. “So we’re making that decision now. We’ll be involved in it very much. And we want to do liberty for the people. We want to have a great relationship.”
Trump hasn’t ruled out appointing the country’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who would take power under the Venezuelan Constitution. But he stopped short of giving her full support.
He said: “We’re going to have to look at it. I don’t know what kind of an election it was.”
Experts also agree that Machado and her movement are best placed for the takeover, according to the Post. “They have the support of 70% of Venezuelans,” Jorge Jraissati, president of the Economic Inclusion Group, told Fox News Digital.
“They would lead this transition period.” Machado celebrated Maduro’s capture on Saturday (January 3).
“The time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to govern our country,” she wrote in a statement. “We will restore order, free the political prisoners, build an exceptional country, and bring our children back home.
“We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening.”
Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for her political advocacy, thanked the US for fulfilling its “promise to uphold the law”. The opposition leader has strongly backed President Trump and praised him for seizing a vessel carrying oil out of Venezuela.
She even dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump after winning in October for her efforts to advance democracy “in the face of ever-expanding authoritarianism in Venezuela” despite serious threats to her life. She has been in hiding since the summer of 2024 when Maduro claimed victory for his third term in an extremely dodgy election.
In the months before Maduro’s arrest, Machado indicated that her movement was ready to take control of Venezuela.
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