A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Executives from United States oil companies will meet at the White House today to talk about the future of Venezuela.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The Trump administration ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro this past week. In an interview with The New York Times, President Trump seemed to say the United States could be running Venezuela, giving orders there for years to come. So what would that look like?
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben is here to update us on this. So, Danielle, tell us about the details we know.
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, BYLINE: Well, the overarching answer there is that there's just a lot we don't know. For example, we don't know what cooperation between the U.S. and Venezuela's interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, even looks like right now. But now we know that the U.S. could be there for some time. Here's the exchange between Trump and Times reporters, as posted on the Times website.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: How long do you think you'll be running Venezuela?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Only time will tell.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Like, three months, six months, a year, longer?
TRUMP: I would say much longer than that.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: Much longer. And...
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: Much longer.
TRUMP: We have to rebuild. We have to rebuild the country, and we will rebuild it in a very profitable way.
KURTZLEBEN: On that note, the administration said this week that the U.S. will take 30 to 50 million barrels of oil, sell it and oversee the money. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said that the money will be disbursed, quote, "for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people." But again, we don't know what that looks like. However, today, Trump will meet with oil company execs to talk about all of that.
MARTÍNEZ: So what have - else have they said about Venezuelan oil?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, Rubio has laid out three main phases to what comes next. That's Secretary of State Marco Rubio. First is to stabilize Venezuela. Second, he said, is recovery, which involves opening access to the Venezuelan market. But also, he said that would involve reconciliation and rebuilding civil society. Third, he said, would be transition. But once again, there's a lot we don't know about that. For example, when he talks about civil society, is that nation-building, and how involved is that?
And there's one more thing left open-ended here. When The Times asked Trump what would prompt him to send ground troops into the country, he said he didn't want to answer that to a reporter. So Trump is leaving the possibility open for boots on the ground, though none are there right now. Now, we did get more information overnight, also. Trump posted that since cooperation is going well, he has canceled a second wave of attacks on the country, but that U.S. ships would stay nearby.
MARTÍNEZ: And so here's something else, too, because Trump has also threatened Venezuela's neighbor to the south, Colombia. And in the middle of that interview with The Times, he stopped to take a call from the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro. So what's happening between the U.S. and Colombia?
KURTZLEBEN: Well, that call was off the record, so the Times didn't report what was said. But afterward, Trump posted on social media that it was an honor to talk to Petro. He said they talked about their disagreements and that Trump looks forward to meeting in the near future. But that turnabout with Colombia really underscores that Trump's foreign policy worldview is that he can do what he wants. The Times asked, are there any limits on your foreign policy powers? And he said, quote, "yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me." Now, all of this is maybe not surprising, but still stunning. I mean, Trump is a staunch unilateralist, but not only that. He's one for whom foreign policy can be personal and potentially affected by a phone call.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Thank you very much, Danielle.
KURTZLEBEN: Of course. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
