Trump calls himself 'acting president of Venezuela': it's just a joke for now
On the evening of January 11, Trump published in Truth Social a fake image of a Wikipedia page listing him as "acting president of Venezuela" since January 2026. How much truth there is in this joke is being investigated. Time.
When Donald Trump hinted at the beginning of the year that the United States would "manage" Venezuela after the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, memes featuring Secretary of State Marco Rubio began to spread online.
Rubio has assumed the roles of Acting Administrator of USAID (the United States Agency for International Development), Acting National Archivist, and Acting National Security Advisor. However, it appears Rubio's boss, the social media-obsessed US president, whose online posts and memes regularly draw criticism for spreading misinformation or sowing discord, has decided to add his own memes, perhaps hinting at something more serious.
On the subject: A Venezuelan opposition figure offered to share her peace prize with Trump; the Nobel Committee rejected her offer.
11 January Trump published on his social network Truth Social A generated image of a Wikipedia page listing him as "Acting President of Venezuela" since January 2026. Real page about Trump on Wikipedia does not contain such information.
In fact, on January 5, Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela's vice president and head of the oil ministry, was sworn in as the country's interim president. Rodriguez condemned the arrests of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. However, the Trump administration supported Rodriguez, threatening that she would "pay a very high price, probably even higher than Maduro" if she did not comply with US demands.
On January 9, immediately following the US military operation, the government in Caracas, led by Rodriguez, announced that it had begun working on a process to restore diplomatic relations with Washington, which were severed during Trump's first presidential term in 2019.
The State Department said a small diplomatic delegation from Washington visited Venezuela to conduct a preliminary assessment of the possibility of reopening the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
Rodriguez has softened her rhetoric regarding cooperation with the United States, particularly in the energy sector. The US is seeking to establish control over the South American country's oil industry. Venezuela is known as an oil nation with the world's largest oil reserves. Trump has already stated that under Rodriguez's administration, the US will receive up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil.
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Amid growing cooperation with the Rodriguez government, Trump announced on January 9 that he had called off the "second wave of attacks" on Venezuela.
"The US and Venezuela are working well together, especially on issues related to rebuilding their oil and gas infrastructure into a much bigger, better, and more modern form," he wrote in Truth Social.
However, in a conversation with the New York Times, the US president stated that while the interim government “gives us everything we think is necessary,” “only time will tell” when Washington will stop seeking direct control over Caracas.
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