On Sunday, Donald Trump posted a picture of himself online claiming to be the “Acting President of Venezuela.” The backdrop to this bold, some might say bizarre, claim is a U.S. military operation that, just days earlier, captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
According to reports, the operation took place on January 3, 2026, and Maduro is now in U.S. custody, facing drug and weapons-related charges in New York. In the meantime, Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has been sworn in as interim president. Yet here is Trump, 79 years old, posting on Truth Social that his administration will run Venezuela and its oil assets during a transition period.
It is the kind of news that makes you pause. One world leader captured, another declares himself in charge on social media. The images, the words, the implications, they are almost surreal.
For now, the story is unfolding. Venezuela is in transition, Maduro is in U.S. custody, and the world watches as one of the most unusual international developments in recent history takes shape, punctuated by a former president posting himself as the acting leader of another sovereign nation.
