Less than two weeks after a military operation in which the United States entered Venezuela and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, to face federal criminal charges in New York, President Donald Trump was bucking it up about himself as the leader of Venezuela.
On Truth Social Sunday, the president posted a Wikipedia screenshot, listing himself as “Acting President of Venezuela,” starting in January of 2026:
Trump’s real Wikipedia entry does not currently list the Venezuela line, nor does the “Talk” page, one of the most contentious on the entire site, include any indication that such an edit was made at any point recently.
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After Maduro was nabbed, Trump said that the U.S. would “run” the country for some period of time. In last week’s New York Times interview, Trump said that the U.S. running of the country could last for “years.”
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump said in the Times interview. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
However, that’s no so easy, per an op-ed published in The Hill:
Trump posts that he’s “Acting President of Venezuela” pic.twitter.com/Hgbj4ZhqMr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 12, 2026
“Many in the U.S. don’t understand the situation in Venezuela. Even under the best of circumstances, there is no realistic way for the U.S. to “run” the country. After two decades of sanctions and economic collapse, the idea that the Trump administration could simply seize Venezuela’s oil and manage the country toward stability is not just immoral, but structurally incoherent. This plan will fail,” Heather Williams wrote.
Trump: “We’re going to run Venezuela to make sure it’s run properly”
The country he’s supposed to be running:pic.twitter.com/fAkEB26Q9n
— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) January 5, 2026
“Sanctions have already led to widespread hunger, illness, violence, and fear. Paradoxically, they also helped keep Nicolas Maduro in power by punishing ordinary people while insulating elites. Over the last decade, the Venezuelan economy contracted by roughly 70 percent, upending the everyday lives of Venezuelans as public services deteriorated, wages collapsed and millions fled.”
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
