Trump: US can control Venezuela for years

TT

Updated 09.06 | Published 08.58

 

Messages critical of Trump have been scrawled on a wall in Caracas. Image from earlier this week. Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP/TT

Time will tell how long the US intends to control Venezuela, says President Donald Trump.

But it is a matter of years.

The US will rule Venezuela and extract oil from its large reserves for years, says Trump in an interview with The New York Times.

– Only time will tell, he answers the question of how long it is.

When the reporter asks if it is a year or more, the answer is:

– I would say much longer.

According to Trump, Venezuela's interim government, consisting entirely of loyalists to the now imprisoned Nicolás Maduro, is giving the US "everything we deem necessary".

– We will build it in a very profitable way, he says.

– We will use oil and we will take oil. We will bring down oil prices and we will give money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.

At the same time, the president writes on Truth Social that Venezuela will only buy American-made products with the money they get from the new oil deal with the United States. According to Trump, this includes medicines and agricultural products.