Trump: United States to run Venezuela until time comes for ‘safe, proper and judicious transition’

U.S. President Donald Trump said at a press conference that the United States “going to run” Venezuela until “such a time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition” of power.

Trump also thanked the military for what he described as their “breathtaking speed, power, precision and competence.”

He said these “highly trained warriors” operated in collaboration with U.S. law enforcement agencies.

“The Venezuelan armed forces were waiting for us with many ships out,” the U.S. president said.

However, according to Trump, despite being on full combat readiness, the Venezuelan armed forces were “completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated.”

No U.S. service members were killed, and no equipment was lost, he added.

Trump claimed that the United States has “knocked out 97% of drugs coming in by sea,” asserting that each vessel transporting narcotics kills an average of 25,000 people.

The U.S. “partnership” with Venezuela, Trump said, will make the Venezuelan people “rich, independent, and safe.”

Venezuelans living in the US will be “extremely happy,” he added. “They’re not going to suffer any more.”

Trump also described Maduro as an “illegitimate dictator” responsible for bringing a “colossal amounts of deadly illicit drugs” into the United States, accusing him of leading the Cartel de los Soles.

He added that Maduro and his wife are currently aboard a ship heading to New York, and that a decision “will be made soon” between New York and Miami.