“We’re Going to Run It”: Trump Announces US Military Occupation of Venezuela
The old empires at least had the decency to lie about their intentions. They spoke of civilizing missions and the white man’s burden, of bringing enlightenment to backward peoples. The pretence was grotesque, but it was there.
Donald Trump dispensed with even that courtesy on Saturday. Hours after US forces bombed Caracas and kidnapped President NicolΓ‘s Maduro, he stood before the cameras at Mar-a-Lago and announced: “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”
Not “support democracy.” Not “assist Venezuelan institutions.” Not “work with international partners.”
Run it. The United States will run Venezuela.
If anyone still harboured illusions about humanitarian intervention or the restoration of democracy, Trump dispensed with them in a single sentence. This is conquest. This is occupation. This is Pax Americana stripped of its diplomatic niceties and presented in language so brazen it would make a 19th-century colonial administrator blush.
The Spoils of War
Trump did not stop there. With remarkable candour, he explained precisely what American control of Venezuela would entail.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” he announced, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
When asked about the cost of running Venezuela, Trump was equally frank: “It won’t cost us anything because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial. We’re going to get reimbursed for everything that we spend.”
Let us parse this carefully. The United States has bombed a sovereign nation, allegedly abducted its president, and will now administer that country’s government and control its oil production. American corporations will “fix” Venezuela’s infrastructure (degraded in no small part by years of US sanctions) and extract oil. The revenue from that oil will reimburse the United States for the cost of the military operation and ongoing occupation.
This is not liberation. This is armed robbery dressed in the language of nation-building.
Trump went further still, declaring that “the wealth is going to the people of Venezuela, and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela, and it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country.”
The damages. Venezuela, a country that has never attacked the United States, has apparently caused America damages that entitle Washington to seize its oil wealth as compensation.
The logic is breathtaking in its audacity. We bomb you. We occupy you. We take your resources. And we tell you it is restitution for harms you caused us.
Threats and Warnings
As if to underscore the imperial nature of the enterprise, Trump issued explicit threats to anyone who might resist American control.
“All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand what happened to Maduro can happen to them,” he warned. “We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so.”
The message could not be clearer. Submit, or face the same fate as your president.
When asked about the possibility of US troops remaining in Venezuela, Trump did not equivocate: “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”
The legal authority for any of this remains murky at best. Trump bypassed Congress entirely, informing leadership only after the operation was complete. When pressed on constitutional questions, Marco Rubio offered the threadbare justification that the action was necessary “to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant.”
An arrest warrant. That is the fig leaf covering this naked act of aggression. Because Maduro faces charges in a New York federal court, the entire apparatus of American military might can be deployed to snatch him from his country and install US control over Venezuelan governance and resources.
If this precedent stands, any nation whose leader has been indicted by American prosecutors becomes fair game for invasion and occupation.
The Theatre of Empire
In one of the more surreal moments of the press conference, Trump revealed that he had watched the operation unfold in real time “like I was watching a television show.”
The invasion of a sovereign nation, the bombing of its capital, the alleged capture of its president β all of it reduced to entertainment, a spectacle for the commander-in-chief to enjoy from the comfort of his Florida resort.
This is empire as performance art. Trump even posted a photograph on social media showing Maduro in US custody, presumably aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford. The image is meant to project strength, resolve, American dominance.
What it actually reveals is something darker: a superpower so confident in its impunity that it does not even bother to pretend anymore.
The Muted Response
And the world? The world has largely responded with the kind of carefully calibrated non-response that enables such actions.
The European Union, through foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, noted that Maduro “lacks legitimacy” while calling for “restraint” and respect for international law. The principles must be respected, she assured us. Under all circumstances.
Except, apparently, these circumstances.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed that Britain was “not involved in any way” and expressed a desire to “establish the facts” before commenting further. He believes, he said, that “we should all uphold international law.”
Belief, it seems, is as far as he is willing to go.
Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Indonesia β all confirmed they are “monitoring the situation closely.” Italy is in touch with its embassy. Poland is assessing developments.
Monitor. Assess. Remain in touch. The diplomatic vocabulary of studied passivity.
Meanwhile, the countries that did condemn the operation in clear terms were precisely those one would expect: Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, Brazil, Colombia, and Palestinian resistance groups. The usual suspects, dismissed in Western capitals as authoritarian regimes and rogue actors.
Brazilian President Lula called the operation an “unacceptable” crossing of the line that recalls “the worst moments of interference” in Latin American politics. Colombian President Gustavo Petro deployed military forces to the Venezuelan border and condemned “the aggression against the sovereignty of Venezuela and of Latin America.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called it “a clear violation of the basic principles of the United Nations Charter.” Russia denounced it as “an act of armed aggression.”
They are, of course, entirely correct. But correctness without power is merely noise.
What “Safe Transition” Really Means
Trump was vague about the specifics of how the United States would govern Venezuela, saying only that “we’re designating various people” and that “it’s largely going to be for a period of time, the people that are standing right behind me.”
Rubio, Hegseth, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apparently, will be running Venezuela. Or perhaps Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy RodrΓguez, who Trump claimed has been in contact with Rubio and is “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”
Make Venezuela Great Again. The slogan writes itself.
What Trump describes as a “safe, proper and judicious transition” looks remarkably like indefinite American military occupation with US oil companies extracting resources while the bill for the invasion is paid from Venezuelan oil revenues.
When pressed on how long this arrangement would last, Trump said he would “like to do it quickly, but it takes a period of time.”
Translation: as long as it takes to secure American interests and ensure a compliant government is installed.
Venezuelan opposition leader MarΓa Corina Machado, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, wasted no time declaring that “the HOUR OF FREEDOM has arrived” and calling for her preferred candidate, Edmundo GonzΓ‘lez Urrutia (currently in exile in Spain), to assume the presidency.
Freedom, in this formulation, means a government selected by Washington and amenable to the privatization of Venezuela’s oil industry. Democracy means installing leaders who will do as they are told.
Pax Americana in Broad Daylight
This is not abstract geopolitics. This is not the complex interplay of competing interests in a multipolar world. This is conquest, pure and simple, executed with overwhelming force and justified with the flimsiest of legal pretexts.
Trump has done something remarkable in his brazenness: he has stripped away the humanitarian rhetoric that usually accompanies American interventions and stated plainly what this is about. Oil. Control. Reimbursement for imagined damages. The installation of a compliant government.
Pax Americana does not mean peace. It never has. It means the peace that comes from submission, the tranquillity of a boot on the neck, the stability of a system organized entirely around American interests.
And much of the world, particularly the Western world, is watching in silence. Not because they do not understand what is happening. But because they have decided that challenging American power carries too high a price.
The rules-based international order, we are told, is the foundation of global stability. Article 2(4) of the UN Charter prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. The International Court of Justice has repeatedly affirmed these principles. International law scholars have written libraries full of analysis on the prohibition of aggression.
And yet here we are, watching a president announce on live television that the United States will “run” another country, control its oil production, and extract wealth to reimburse itself for the cost of invasion.
The law exists. The violations are clear. And the consequences are nonexistent.
The Only Honest Imperial
Previous American presidents, when orchestrating coups and installing puppet governments, at least maintained the fiction that they were defending freedom and democracy. They wrapped their conquests in humanitarian language and spoke earnestly about the responsibility to protect.
There is a grim irony in Trump’s approach. By dispensing with the pretence of humanitarian concern, by stating openly that this is about oil and control and American dominance, he has inadvertently performed a service to clarity.
Trump simply says: we’re going to run it. We’re taking the oil. You’ll be reimbursing us.
It is the same imperial project, only without the poetry.
And that, perhaps, is the most damning revelation of all. Not that America is behaving as an empire β this is hardly news to anyone paying attention. But that it can now do so openly, without even bothering to construct a convincing moral narrative, and face no meaningful resistance from the so-called international community.
You almost has to admire the honesty, but the fact is – they hardly care what we think.
When empire stops pretending to be something else, we are left with a simple choice: accept that might makes right, or admit that the entire structure of international law is a fiction maintained only as long as it serves the powerful. Trump has given us that clarity. What we do with it remains to be seen.
PAX Pax Americana isnβt peace.
Itβs dominance. And much of the world is watching in silence while it unfolds.
Support Independent Journalism Today
Our unwavering dedication is to provide you with unbiased news, diverse perspectives, and insightful opinions. We're on a mission to ensure that those in positions of power are held accountable for their actions, but we can't do it alone. Labour Heartlands is primarily funded by me, Paul Knaggs, and by the generous contributions of readers like you. Your donations keep us going and help us uphold the principles of independent journalism. Join us in our quest for truth, transparency, and accountability β donate today and be a part of our mission!
Like everyone else, we're facing challenges, and we need your help to stay online and continue providing crucial journalism. Every contribution, no matter how small, goes a long way in helping us thrive. By becoming one of our donors, you become a vital part of our mission to uncover the truth and uphold the values of democracy.
While we maintain our independence from political affiliations, we stand united against corruption, injustice, and the erosion of free speech, truth, and democracy. We believe in the power of accurate information in a democracy, and we consider facts non-negotiable.
Your support, no matter the amount, can make a significant impact. Together, we can make a difference and continue our journey toward a more informed and just society.
Thank you for supporting Labour Heartlands
