President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that Venezuela is a "dead" country that needs "big investment" from oil companies to survive.
Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One as he traveled back to Washington, D.C. from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. His comments come after the Trump administration extracted Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Venezuela early on Saturday morning, flying them to the U.S. to stand trial on narco-terrorism and gun charges.
The president was asked about the move during a press gaggle with reporters.
"Venezuela, right now, is a dead country," Trump said. "We have to bring it back. We're going to have to have big investments from the oil companies to rebuild the infrastructure."
"The oil companies are ready to go," Trump continued. "They're going to go in. They're going to build the infrastructure. We built it to start off with many years ago. They took it away. You can't do that."
Trump's decision to arrest Maduro happened at a politically sensitive time for the administration. The Department of Justice recently released files from the FBI's investigation into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein that painted Trump's relationship with the convicted sex criminal in an unscrupulous light.
Trump has also threatened to invade other countries like Mexico and Colombia if their leaders do not reduce the flow of drugs into the U.S.
Trump: "Venezuela right now is a dead country. We have to bring it back. We're gonna have to have big investments by the oil companies." pic.twitter.com/2Rs56fgWih
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 5, 2026