Trump Says Venezuelan Opposition Leader Lacks 'Respect' to Govern After Maduro Ousted

President Donald Trump claimed on January 3, 2026, that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado lacks the "respect" within Venezuela to assume leadership following the US military operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The US-led operation took place early Saturday in Caracas, leading to Maduro's arrest on narco-terrorism charges. Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, celebrated the operation as the "hour of freedom" and called on Venezuelans to mobilize for a democratic transition. She also urged the military to recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as Venezuela's rightful president, citing independent exit polls that showed González Urrutia winning two-thirds of the vote in the July 2025 election. Trump stated the US will "run the country" until a "safe, proper and judicious transition" can be established, while Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez demanded Maduro's immediate release and condemned the US action as an illegal aggression.