President Donald Trumpsaid in a new interview that the U.S. could help finance improvements to Venezuela's oil infrastructure,telling NBCthat oil companies could be "reimbursed" for their investments.
The president also said in the Jan. 5 interview that the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela and there won't be a quick election. And he dismissedreporting in the Washington Postthat the reason he declined to back opposition leader María Corina Machado to take over the country is that she won the Nobel Peace Prize, which he has sought.
"She should not have won it," Trump said of Machado. "But no, that has nothing to do with my decision."
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, pictured here after his capture aboard the USS Iwo Jima, is seen in this handout image posted by U.S. President Donald Trump on Truth Social Jan. 3, 2026. The United States captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife in an overnight military operation on Jan. 3, 2026, President Donald Trump said, as explosions rocked Caracas and targets across the country." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> 
US bombs targets in Venezuela and captures Nicolás Maduro
The U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation early Jan. 3, bringing him to New York City to face drug-trafficking charges.Maduro pleaded not guiltyin federal court on Jan. 5. Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Maduro's vice president,has been sworn inas the country's interim president.
Trump told NBC that elections won't be held in Venezuela in the next 30 days.
"We have to fix the country first," he said. "You can't have an election. There's no way the people could even vote."
The president listed multiple members of his administration who are helping to oversee Venezuela's intervention, but responded to a question about who is ultimately in charge by saying, "me."
Trump has focused on Venezuela's oil resources in the aftermath of the U.S. military operations. He told NBC that it could take less than 18 months to revive Venezuelan oil production, with the U.S. potentially reimbursing American oil companies for their investment.
"A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they'll get reimbursed by us, or through revenue," Trump said.
Oil companies weren't briefed on the military operation before it occurred,Trump said, but the administration has been "talking to the concept of, 'what if we did it?'"
"The oil companies were absolutely aware that we were thinking about doing something," the president told NBC. "But we didn't tell them we were going to do it."
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Jan. 5found that72% of Americansare concerned about the U.S. getting too involved in Venezuela. Trump said America isn't at war with the Latin American country.
"No, we're not," he told NBC. "We're at war with people that sell drugs. We're at war with people that empty their prisons into our country and empty their drug addicts and empty their mental institutions into our country."
Contributing: Bart Jansen
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Trump says oil companies could be 'reimbursed' for Venezuela spending
