Donald Trump has signaled that Greenland is in his sights after capturing Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan dictator, and taking him to the US to stand trial.
“We need Greenland, absolutely,” the US president told The Atlantic magazine, adding that the Danish territory is “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.”
He said officials in his administration would decide what happened to Greenland, which Trump has argued the US must annex for its security.
“We need it for defense,” he said of Greenland.
Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, rebuked the Trump administration earlier on Sunday, calling it “disrespectful” and saying the territory was “not for sale”.
He was referring to an image posted on social media by Katie Miller, the wife of Mr Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, which showed the map of Greenland painted with the US flag and captioned “SOON”.
The mission to capture Maduro has raised concerns about other US military operations in the Western Hemisphere, which the Trump administration considers part of America’s sphere of influence.
An American invasion of Greenland is considered unlikely by analysts who point out that the Danish territory is part of the NATO alliance with the United States.
However, the renewed threats are likely to alarm European leaders as America’s estrangement from the continent grows.
Katie Miller, the wife of one of Trump’s advisers, posted a map of Greenland covered by the US flag online
The US will be keeping a close eye on Delcey Rodriguez, Maduro’s vice president, who was sworn in as interim president by the country’s Supreme Court on Sunday.
Trump has warned that he will pay a “big price” if he does not cooperate with the US.
“If he doesn’t do what’s right, he will pay a very high price, probably higher than Maduro,” he told The Atlantic.
He said on Saturday that Ms. Rodriguez was “essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.” Ms. Rodríguez rejected suggestions that she would follow US orders.
Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are expected to appear in a Manhattan court on Monday on charges of narco-terrorism and possession of machine guns.
A 25-page indictment accuses the two of kidnapping, beating and killing to support a drug-trafficking operation run by cartels using fake passports allegedly provided to them by the president.
Nicolas Maduro was taken into custody in a hallway at the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in New York – @RapidResponse47/via REUTERS
A cyber attack on Venezuela allowed helicopters to fly in and capture Maduro, US officials have revealed. At least 40 people, including civilians, were killed in the accompanying airstrikes, a senior Venezuelan official claimed.
JD Vance, the US vice president, defended the mission. “I understand the anxiety about the use of military force, but should we allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? That’s not how great powers operate,” he said.
Washington said it launched the operation to oust Maduro to stop drug trafficking in the US and gain access to its vast oil reserves, the world’s largest.
Trump ‘furious over mocking video’
Mr Trump was reportedly prompted to order the daring ambush after he was angered by a video of Mr Maduro dancing to an electronic remix of his own speech, “No War, Yes Peace”, on 30 December.
The US president thought the Venezuelan leader was “mocking” him and bluffing him, a week after the US struck a dock that Trump claimed was used to house drug-trafficking boats.
The US ruled out snap elections in Venezuela on Sunday. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said talk of a vote was “premature”, adding that America would run Venezuelan politics through the parts of the regime still in power.
“Let’s be real here,” he said on NBC Sunday when asked about the election. “What we’re focusing on right now is all the problems we had when Maduro was there — we still have those problems in the sense that they have to be solved.”
Ms. Rodríguez is a former lawyer considered more moderate than Mr. Maduro.
Delcy Rodriguez, Maduro’s vice president, was sworn in as interim president on Sunday – JUAN BARRETO/AFP
Armed members of a pro-government militia were seen on Saturday stopping civilians in parts of the city that remain loyal to the ousted leader.
Elsewhere, crowds gathered at metro stations in search of charging stations after power outages were reported in parts of the city.
Rubio said on Sunday that the US wanted to give Ms Rodríguez “an opportunity to address the challenges” in Venezuela as a transitional government taking instructions from Washington, DC.
Rubio was dubbed the “Viceroy of Venezuela” after Trump named him and others to “lead” the country on Saturday. He is said to have played a central role in guiding the Trump administration to overthrow Maduro’s regime.
Marco Rubio named ‘Viceroy of Venezuela’ after being appointed to ‘rule’ the country – Molly Riley/The White House
Reports emerged on Sunday suggesting Maduro’s ouster was an inside job. Former Colombian officials said they were “absolutely certain” that Ms. Rodríguez betrayed Mr. Maduro.
A US official said of Ms Rodríguez that “she is certainly someone we think we can work with at a much more professional level” than Mr Maduro. The official told the New York Times that Washington was impressed by Ms. Rodríguez’s ability to manage Venezuela’s oil industry.
Ms Rodríguez presented the US with a plan for her to rule Venezuela without Mr Maduro, according to the Miami Herald. It is unclear whether she cooperated with the US to help capture the former president.
Pressure mounted on Labor’s left-wing Sir Keir Starmer on Sunday to condemn US actions in Venezuela and “to stand up to Trump’s gangster politics”.
On Sunday, Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president and close to Vladimir Putin, said the attacks on Venezuela were illegal but consistent because Trump was defending US interests.
“We have to admit that, despite the obvious illegality of Trump’s behavior, there is no denying a certain consistency in his actions. He and his team are defending their country’s national interests rather harshly,” he told state news.
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0501 Socialism has affected Venezuela’s oil industry
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Oil markets were braced for possible volatility in global markets when trading resumed in most parts of the world on Monday morning.
Saudi Arabia’s stock market, which relies on high oil prices to prop up its economy, fell the most in nine months on Sunday. The Tadawul All Share index fell 1.8 percent, the biggest drop since Trump’s tariffs unsettled global markets in April.
Meanwhile, oil companies were preparing to return to Venezuela to begin extracting crude, a key pledge made by Trump in the wake of the Caracas raid.
Protesters outside the US embassy in Madrid, Spain hold a cartoon showing Donald Trump drinking oil – Luciano Lima
Rubio said the U.S. doesn’t need Venezuelan oil, but “no longer will the oil industry be used to enrich all our adversaries.”
“Why does China need Venezuelan oil? Why does Russia? Why does Iran?” he said. A US embargo is currently preventing Venezuelan oil exports.
Trump told reporters on Saturday that American companies would invest billions of dollars in the country’s oil fields, which are estimated to be the largest in the world.
The interim leader’s “ties” with Moscow
Questions have been raised about Ms. Rodríguez’s ties to the Kremlin following reports that she was in Russia at the time of Mr. Maduro’s capture.
The interim leader has signed dozens of cooperation agreements with Moscow in the past and said in November that Venezuela’s relationship with Moscow “cannot be destroyed.”
The US military operation was condemned by Venezuela’s allies China, North Korea and Russia, but was met with caution in some European capitals.
Mr. Maduro and his wife are being held in a Brooklyn prison with a history of poor conditions and mistreatment of inmates, including Ghislaine Maxwell, Luigi Mangione and the rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.
The former Venezuelan leader was last seen in a “walking” video, wishing DEA officers “good night” and a “Happy New Year” as he was escorted to prison on Saturday.
Handcuffed, wearing a blue hoodie and a black hat pulled over his head, he was photographed smiling and giving thumbs up alongside dozens of federal agents.