White House Claims ‘maximum Leverage’ Over Venezuela

The Trump administration on Wednesday suggested it has control over Venezuela’s interim leadership after the ouster and capture of its President Nicolás Maduro, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

“The Trump administration, led by Secretary Rubio, the vice president and the president’s entire national security team, is in close correspondence with the interim authorities in Venezuela. We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now,” Leavitt told reporters in the White House briefing.

Indeed, Leavitt said that any decisions by the interim government will “continue to be dictated by the United States of America.”

The tough talk comes on the heels of what appears to be a rapid recalibration of messaging from Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, a Maduro ally and his former vice president, who at first struck a defiant tone – almost immediately followed by remarks saying she would work with America on what she called an “agenda of cooperation.”

Leavitt said President Trump has been clear that Venezuela will clamp down on no longer sending illegal drugs, unauthorized migrants and criminal cartels into the United States. She added that the interim authorities are in close coordination with the U.S.

And Trump has been clear that if they don’t cooperate, military force remains an option.

“Venezuela, thus far, has been very nice. But it helps to have a force like we have,” Trump said on Sunday. “If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike.”

The Trump administrationhas made multiple demands for Rodríguez, including cracking down on drug flows; kicking out Iranian, Cuban and other operatives of countries or networks hostile to Washington; and stopping the sale of oil to U.S. adversaries.

When asked about reports that the administration has demanded Venezuela cut ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba, Leavitt said on Wednesday, “the administration has made it quite clear to the interim authorities in Venezuela that this is the western hemisphere and American dominance is going to continue under this president.”

The U.S. expects Rodriguez to hold free elections and step aside, two people told POLITICO, but there is no deadline or timeline for the process. Leavitt told reporters that “it’s too premature and too early to dictate a timetable for elections in Venezuela right now.”

The Venezuelans have agreed to release sanctioned oil, which has been sitting on ships, to the U.S., the White House said, after Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that the administration plans to sell between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil at market prices.

On Wednesday Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that this oil – and the proceeds from selling it at market rates – will be part of the process of transitioning from the Maduro regime to eventual free elections.

“That money will then be handled in such a way that … benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime,” Rubio said. “The second phase will be a phase that we call recovery, and that is ensuring that American, Western and other companies have access to the Venezuelan market in a way that's fair.”