Is Trump the president of Venezuela

1. The direct answer: who holds Venezuelan presidential authority right now

Venezuela’s functioning executive authority is in the hands of Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in as acting president following Maduro’s capture and removal to U.S. custody ^{[2] [3]}; Nicolás Maduro has been detained and transported to the United States to face drug- and weapons‑related charges, where he pleaded not guilty ^{[1] [4]}.

2. What actually happened on the ground: U.S. operation and Maduro’s capture

U.S. forces conducted a covert operation in early January 2026 that resulted in the capture and extraction of Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to New York, an operation reported as approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government and involving CIA and special operations planning ^{[1] [5]}.

3. Who’s “running” Venezuela — de jure and de facto distinctions

By constitutional succession and immediate domestic acts, Vice President Rodríguez assumed the interim presidency after Maduro’s removal and enjoys the backing of key domestic security institutions, even as Washington exerts heavy influence and engages directly with her team ^{[2] [6] [3]}. Reuters describes a small ruling cabal and names Rodríguez as running the country “under the oversight of the United States” in the post‑capture period ^[6].

4. Trump’s posts and rhetoric: symbolic claim versus legal reality

President Trump posted an image portraying himself as “Acting President of Venezuela” on social media and publicly declared that his administration would “run” Venezuela during a transition period, but those are political assertions and symbolic messaging rather than a transfer of Venezuelan sovereignty or constitutional office to the U.S. president ^{[7] [8]}. Multiple outlets report U.S. officials and agencies coordinating closely with Rodríguez and even traveling to Caracas, but they do not show any legal mechanism by which the U.S. president becomes Venezuela’s head of state ^{[8] [9]}.

5. International law, diplomatic practice, and the limits of unilateral language

International practice treats recognition, occupation, and installation of governments as separate legal acts; reporting shows the U.S. detained Maduro and is pushing to manage Venezuela’s assets and transition, yet other governments, regional actors, and Venezuelan institutions remain determinants of legitimacy, and there is no source asserting that Trump has been installed as Venezuela’s president under domestic or international law ^{[8] [10] [9]}.

6. Competing narratives, political incentives, and hidden agendas

Coverage diverges: some U.S. outlets portray the U.S. pivot as restoring order and reintegrating Venezuela economically, while critics and Venezuelan opposition figures warn the U.S. has sidelined democratically preferred opposition leaders and is empowering Maduro loyalists like Rodríguez for pragmatic stability; outlets such as The Atlantic and Reuters highlight that U.S. choices reflect geopolitical and political calculations rather than a clean pro‑democracy restoration ^{[11] [6]}. Trump’s social‑media claim functions as domestic political theater and a signal of control, but reporting shows real power in Caracas remains with Venezuelan institutions and actors who have their own agendas and loyalties ^{[7] [6]}.

7. Bottom line and caveats

The empirical record in the reporting is clear: Trump is not the president of Venezuela; Delcy Rodríguez is the acting president after Maduro’s capture, Maduro is detained in U.S. custody facing charges, and the U.S. is exerting significant influence — a complex, contested transition rather than a formal transfer of Venezuelan presidential title to an American leader ^{[2] [1] [3]}. Sources do not provide evidence that U.S. domestic rhetoric equates to a lawful change in Venezuela’s head‑of‑state status, and gaps remain about long‑term outcomes and which international actors will ultimately shape legitimacy ^{[8] [9]}.