Politics
Trump says second Venezuela strike possible if interim govt does not cooperate
- Trump suggests military action on Colombia, Mexico also possible.
- Says Venezuelan immigrants in the US were also a factor in raid.
- Caracas streets quiet amid anxiety over next developments.
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States might launch a second military strike on Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro if remaining members of the administration do not cooperate with his efforts to get the country “fixed.”
Trump’s comments to reporters aboard Air Force One raised the possibility of further US military interventions in Latin America and suggested Colombia and Mexico could also face military action if they do not reduce the flow of illicit drugs to the United States.
“Operation Colombia sounds good to me,” Trump said. He also said that Cuba, a close ally of Venezuela, “looks like it’s ready to fall” on its own without US military action.
Maduro is in a New York detention centre awaiting a Monday court appearance on drug charges. His capture by the United States has sparked deep uncertainty about what is next for the oil-rich South American nation.
Trump said his administration will work with remaining members of the Maduro regime to clamp down on drug trafficking and overhaul its oil industry, rather than push for immediate elections to install a new government.
Top officials in Maduro’s government are still in charge and have called the detentions of Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores a kidnapping.
“Here, there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros. Let no one fall for the enemy’s provocations,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said in an audio recording released by the ruling PSUV socialist party.
Images of the 63-year-old Maduro, blindfolded and handcuffed, stunned Venezuelans. The operation was Washington’s most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.
Defence Minister General Vladimir Padrino said on state television the US attack killed soldiers, civilians and a “large part” of Maduro’s security detail “in cold blood.” Venezuela’s armed forces have been activated to guarantee sovereignty, he said.
The Cuban government said 32 of its citizens were killed during the raid.
Vice President Delcy Rodriguez — who also serves as oil minister — has taken over as interim leader with the blessing of Venezuela’s top court and has said Maduro remains president.
Rodriguez has long been considered the most pragmatic member of Maduro’s inner circle. But she has publicly contradicted Trump’s claim that she is willing to work with the United States.
Trump said Rodriguez may pay a higher price than Maduro “if she doesn’t do what’s right,” according to an interview with The Atlantic magazine on Sunday.
The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on that remark.
‘A quarantine on their oil’
Trump’s administration has described Maduro’s capture as a law-enforcement mission to force him to face US criminal charges filed in 2020, including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro has denied criminal involvement.
But Trump also said US oil companies need “total access” to the country’s vast reserves and suggested that an influx of Venezuelan emigrants to the United States also factored into the decision to capture Maduro.
“What really played (into the decision to capture Maduro) is the fact that he sent millions of people into our country from prisons and from mental institutions, drug dealers, every drug addict in his country was sent into our country,” Trump said.
The Venezuelan government has said for months that Trump was seeking to take the country’s natural resources, especially its oil, and officials made much of a previous Trump comment that major US oil companies would move in.
“We are outraged because in the end everything was revealed — it was revealed that they only want our oil,” Cabello said.
Once one of the most prosperous nations in Latin America, Venezuela’s economy tanked in the 2000s under President Hugo Chavez and nosedived further under Maduro, sending about one in five Venezuelans abroad in one of the world’s biggest exoduses.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Venezuela’s next leader should keep Venezuela’s oil industry out of the hands of US adversaries and stop drug trafficking, and cited an ongoing US blockade on tankers.
“That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interest of the Venezuelan people are met,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Muted streets
Some Maduro supporters gathered at a government-sponsored protest march on Sunday afternoon in Caracas.
Once ruled by Spain, Venezuela’s “people must not surrender, nor should we ever become a colony of anyone again,” said demonstrator Reinaldo Mijares. “This country is not a country of the defeated.”
Maduro opponents in Venezuela have been wary of celebrating his seizure, and the presence of security forces seemed, if anything, lighter than usual on Sunday.
Despite a nervous mood, some bakeries and coffee shops were open and joggers and cyclists were out as usual. Some citizens were stocking up on essentials.
“Yesterday I was very afraid to go out, but today I had to. This situation caught me without food, and I need to figure things out. After all, Venezuelans are used to enduring fear,” said a single mother in oil city Maracaibo who bought rice, vegetables and tuna.
To the disappointment of Venezuela’s opposition, Trump has given short shrift to the idea of 58-year-old opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado taking over, saying she lacked support.
Machado was banned from standing in the 2024 election but has said her ally Edmundo Gonzalez, 76, who the opposition and some international observers say overwhelmingly won that vote, has a democratic mandate to take the presidency.
Looming questions
US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the White House has failed to say how long the US intends to be in Venezuela and how many American troops might be required.
“The American people are worried that this is creating an endless war — the very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against,” Schumer said on ABC’s “This Week.” He said lawmakers would weigh a measure to constrain further Trump administration action in Venezuela, though its prospects could be uncertain given that Congress is controlled by Trump’s Republicans.
While many Western nations oppose Maduro, there were many calls for the US to respect international law, and questions arose over the legality of seizing a foreign head of state.
The UN Security Council planned to meet on Monday to discuss the attack. Russia and China, both major backers of Venezuela, have criticised the US.
- US embassy warns arrests can revoke student visas.
- Embassy cites deportation risk and future visa ineligibility.
- “A US visa is a privilege, not a right,” embassy says.
The US embassy in India warned on Thursday that arrests or violations of US laws can lead to student visa revocation, deportation and future ineligibility for US visas.
In a post on X, the embassy’s account @USAndIndia said: “Breaking US laws can have serious consequences for your student visa.”
“If you are arrested or violate any laws, your visa may be revoked, you may be deported, and you could be ineligible for future US visas. Follow the rules and don’t jeopardise your travel. A US visa is a privilege, not a right,” it added.
The warning follows other recent messaging by the US embassy in New Delhi on visa compliance.
In December, the embassy said it would deny tourist visa applications if consular officers believe the trip is primarily aimed at giving birth in the United States to secure US citizenship for a child.
“This is not permitted,” the embassy said in a post on X.
Gulf News reported the move added to uncertainty for Indian visa holders, including professionals who account for over 70% of H-1B approvals and nearly 90% of H-4 visas with work authorisation.
The US Embassy in India has also rescheduled visa interviews for some applicants, issuing fresh appointment dates extending to mid-2026.
Separately, the Trump administration in September proposed changes to rework the H-1B visa selection process to favour higher-skilled and better-paid workers, a Federal Register notice said.
The proposal followed a White House proclamation introducing a $100,000 fee for the visas.
If annual requests exceed the statutory limit of 85,000, the notice said, heavier weight would be given to applications by employers who pay high wages, with the stated aim of protecting Americans from unfair wage competition from foreign workers.
President Trump, a Republican, sought to reshape the H-1B process during his 2017–2021 presidency, but was stymied by federal courts and limited time at the end of his presidency.
Tighter US immigration policies are also feeding into wider concerns in India.
Matchmakers, academics and prospective brides and grooms say families are less inclined to marry their children to Indian citizens based in the US, citing fears that potential partners could lose their job or immigration status. There is no official government data on marriages between Indian citizens living at home and overseas.
Indian government figures put the US Indian diaspora at around 2.1 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Since returning to office in January, Trump has launched a broad immigration crackdown, including efforts to limit legal pathways to residency.
Indians accounted for 71% of H-1B visas last year, while US Citizenship and Immigration Services data show that about 75% of H-1B visas issued to Indian citizens in 2024 were awarded to men.
For students, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement data show there were 422,335 Indian students in the US in 2024, with visa-policy uncertainty prompting many to rethink the “American Dream”.
CHONGQING, CHINA: Outstretching his hands in a signature Donald Trump pose, impersonator Ryan Chen mimics the US president’s voice and gestures with such accuracy that he has become a social media phenomenon with his funny videos.
The 42-year-old from southwest China does not engage in political satire — a minefield in the country that can lead to account suspension — but has amassed millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok and Chinese platforms.
“Trump is an endless well that never runs dry, because he draws more online traffic than anyone else on the planet,” Chen told AFP in his hometown of Chongqing, which itself has gone viral over its labyrinthine cityscape and spicy food.
During his videos, which are in English with Chinese subtitles, Chen lightheartedly presents Chinese cuisine, customs, cultural differences, jokes with foreigners and dances to Village People´s “YMCA”, one of Trump´s trademark stage songs.
And all his clips are peppered with Trump´s unmistakable mannerisms and buzzwords like “tremendous” and “amazing”.
“I’m not into politics, but I think he is a very good entertainer,” said Chen of the American president, whom he followed when Trump hosted the reality TV show “The Apprentice”.
“If I imitate him, it´s not to make fun of him. It´s to get attention,” he told AFP in a white cowboy hat.
“With that attention, I can boost my career, as well as promote China and my hometown.”
‘Like a neighbour’
Chen stumbled across his online fame by chance, only taking off in 2025 with Trump´s return to the White House.
The fan of “Friends” and “The Big Bang Theory” — who had never visited the United States before this year — started making online videos to teach English as a “back-up plan” from his job in architecture, a sector hit hard by the property crisis in China.
He had moderate success, but his videos only went viral after a friend challenged him to imitate Trump.
His appearance in April on a livestream by IShowSpeed, an American YouTuber with over 47 million subscribers who was visiting China at the time, further boosted his visibility.
Chen said Trump has become such a big part of his life he now feels a certain familiarity with him, “like a next-door neighbour”.
He sees himself as a “bridge” between international internet users eager to discover urban China, its “lively” atmosphere, and Chinese people keen to understand foreign humour and cultures.
The impersonator now has more than a million followers on Instagram, almost as many on TikTok, and more than 2.5 million on Chinese platforms, and is recognised on the streets.
Chen, who learned English by watching his favourite American series, said his secret is to sound like a “native speaker”.
Another imperative is to “stay tuned” to news on Trump, who is “a goldmine of funny material”, according to Chen, who said he also draws inspiration from American impressionists of the president.
‘Try our hotpot’
The impersonator, whose real name is Chen Rui, said he is now able to make a living from his work through promotion, events and corporate parties.
“My main source of income is advertising,” he said, with brands for cars, digital products, games or milk hiring him for their campaigns.
In a sign his work has not upset the Trump administration, Chen announced in a video he had obtained a visa for the United States, which he is currently visiting for the first time.
And with Trump set to visit China this year, Chen called on the president to travel to Chongqing and “try our hotpot”, which is famously spicy.
While a meeting between the real Trump and his Chinese impersonator would “probably be cool”, Chen said he has no “burning desire” to do so because it would quickly become a diplomatic affair.
“I’m just a comedian,” he said. “I have no political aspirations.
- US to withdraw from 35 non-UN groups, 31 UN entities.
- Trump cites conflict with US interests for withdrawal.
- Move reflects Trump’s scepticism of multilateral institutions.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would withdraw from dozens of international and UN entities, including a key climate treaty and a UN Body that promotes gender equality and women’s empowerment, because they “operate contrary to US national interests.”
Among the 35 non-UN groups and 31 UN entities Trump listed in a memo, opens new tab to senior administration officials is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — described by many as the “bedrock” climate treaty which is parent agreement to the 2015 Paris climate deal.
The United States skipped the annual UN international climate summit last year for the first time in three decades.
“The United States would be the first country to walk away from the UNFCCC,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“Every other nation is a member, in part because they recognize that even beyond the moral imperative of addressing climate change, having a seat at the table in those negotiations represents an ability to shape massive economic policy and opportunity,” said Bapna.
The US will also quit UN Women, which works for gender equality and the empowerment of women, and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the international body’s agency focused on family planning as well as maternal and child health in more than 150 countries. The US cut its funding for the UNFPA last year.
“For United Nations entities, withdrawal means ceasing participation in or funding to those entities to the extent permitted by law,” reads the memo. Trump has already largely slashed voluntary funding to most UN agencies.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump wary of multilateral organisations
Trump’s move reflects his long-standing wariness of multilateral institutions, particularly the United Nations. He has repeatedly questioned the effectiveness, cost and accountability of international bodies, arguing they often fail to serve US interests.
Since beginning his second term a year ago, Trump has sought to slash US funding for the United Nations, stopped US engagement with the UN Human Rights Council, extended a halt to funding for the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA and quit the UN cultural agency UNESCO. He has also announced plans to quit the World Health Organsation and the Paris climate agreement.
Other entities on the US list are the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the International Energy Forum, the UN Register of Conventional Arms and the UN Peacebuilding Commission.
The White House said the dozens of entities that Washington was seeking to depart as soon as possible promote “radical climate policies, global governance, and ideological programs that conflict with US sovereignty and economic strength.”
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