Trump Snatches Maduro But Leaves Regime in Charge for Now

After President Donald Trump stunned the world by saying the US plans to “run” Venezuela, uncertainty over what that means and who is in charge loomed over the South American nation.  Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was an indicted prisoner on a flight bound for New York by the time his Vice President Delcy Rodríguez — who Trump said would partner with Washington to “make Venezuela great again” — denounced the intervention as “barbaric” and a “kidnapping.” Adding to the confusion was that the White House offered few details about what running an oil-producing nation of about 30 million people would entail. Bloomberg News National Security Team Leader Nick Wadhams joins Bloomberg Businessweek Daily to discuss. He speaks with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec.

Trafigura Group and other traders will hold talks with the US government about how they can return to buying crude from Venezuela and supplying fuel to the country after the removal of President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, said the firm’s global head of oil.

“It’s the topic everyone’s discussing in the oil industry,” Ben Luckock said in an interview with Bloomberg television on Tuesday. “I think everyone is looking at what opportunities there may be in Venezuela.”

President Donald Trump ouster of Maduro has begun what has been described as a “gold rush” to reforge business ties with Venezuela’s oil industry. The country has the world’s largest oil reserves, but its production has slumped after decades of underinvestment, trade sanctions and growing economic isolation.

Trafigura is one of the world’s biggest traders of oil, moving an average of 6.6 million barrels a day. It and other traders have historically done business with Venezuela’s state oil producer PDVSA, purchasing its crude and supplying refined products to the country.

The toppling of Maduro will be seen as “a stark lesson in power politics,” Sun Chenghao, a fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy, said in an interview. For global peers such as China, the move “accelerates a broader trend toward a reconfigured global order,” he added.

With Maduro awaiting trial in a New York jail, Trump wasted no time fueling speculation about where his next targets might be. They included Cuba, which suddenly lost its most important benefactor with Maduro’s jailing — “We want to help the people” there, Trump said Saturday — as well as a warning for Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who should “watch his ass.” Then there’s Greenland, part of NATO-ally Denmark’s territory.

“We need Greenland from a national security situation," Trump said Sunday aboard Air Force One, adding that “Denmark is not going to be able to do it.”

Denmark's prime minister denounced the notion, saying the US “has no right to annex” any of its territory. On Monday, she warned that any attempt to take it by force would mean the end of the NATO alliance.

While a US military attack on an Arctic territory still seems farfetched, it’s hard to rule anything out now. The military isn’t the only tool at Trump’s disposal: he’s shown he’ll unleash trade sanctions and tariffs as pressure to achieve political goals. And Trump’s aides — particularly Vice President JD Vance — haven’t been afraid of signaling support for European opposition parties they think would better run the continent.

As much as the latest events seemed to contrast with Trump’s previous “peacemaker” claims, it dovetailed with the far more muscular approach to the presidency that he’s demonstrated in his second term. That includes his deployment of the National Guard to cities across the US and embrace of a campaign to force millions of immigrants out of the US.

The Venezuela mission — done without consulting allies or with clear outlines of what comes next in the South American nation — cemented the understanding that Trump moves first and sorts out details later.

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