Trump threatens Venezuela's vice president and says US needs Greenland

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO - 4 January, 21:05

Donald Trump. Stock photo: Getty Images

US President Donald Trump has threatened Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who is serving as acting president after US special forces captured Nicolás Maduro, saying she could pay a "very big price" if she "doesn't do what's right".

Source: Trump in a telephone interview with The Atlantic from his golf club in West Palm Beach

Quote from Trump: "If she [Rodríguez – ed.] doesn't do what's right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro."

Details: According to the report, Trump made it clear that he would not tolerate what he described as Rodríguez's defiant rejection of the US armed intervention that led to Maduro's capture.

The US president also confirmed that Venezuela may not be the last country to face American intervention.

"We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defence," Trump said, describing the island, which is part of Denmark, a NATO ally, as "surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships".

The Atlantic noted that Trump's harsh tone towards Rodríguez contrasted with the praise he had given her hours after Maduro's capture on 3 January. Trump said at a press conference that Rodríguez had privately signalled that she was willing to cooperate with the United States, which he declared would temporarily "run" her country.

"She's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again," Trump said yesterday.

Rodríguez immediately rejected the claim, saying the country was "ready to defend our natural resources" and that the national defence counsel remained committed to the policies of Maduro, whose return she demanded. "We shall never be a colony ever again," she said.

Background:

On 3 January, a US Delta Force unit captured Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro and removed him from the country.
US President Donald Trump said the United States would run Venezuela until a safe and proper transition of power takes place there.
On 4 January, it was reported that a plane carrying Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had landed at Stewart Air Force Base in New York.
The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela's Supreme Court has ruled that Vice President Delcy Rodríguez will serve as acting president during Maduro's absence.

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