Trump says he is 'Acting President' of Venezuela

The TOI correspondent from WASHINGTON: MAGA Supremo Donald Trump declared himself “Acting President” of Venezuela in a social media post on Monday, seemingly mocking the besieged country, the United Nations, and the global community. While the charitable explanation from some analysts is that he is trolling Venezuela and the world, concern and outrage rippled through many who said he is emboldened by the silence and tacit concurrence of most countries to the US invasion and takeover of a sovereign nation. The US President had earlier said Washington would “run” Venezuela and detailed secretary of state Marco Rubio – now dubbed "Viceroy" of Venezuela – to coordinate its governance with vice-president Delcy Rodriguez, the US designated interim President who was abducted President Nicolas Maduro’s vice-president. Trump had openly threatened Rodríguez, saying if she doesn't give US corporations "total access" to "the oil and other things", she will "pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro.” It is unclear if Rodriguez, who is currently cooperating with the US, is doing so voluntarily or at gunpoint. “The US is an imperial gangster regime,” declared Ben Norton, a political analyst and MAGA critic, even as Trump lashed out at Exxon Mobil, whose CEO expressed reservation about returning to “uninvestible” Venezuela given the fraught situation there. “I didn't like Exxon's response,” Trump told reporters on air force one on his way back to Washington on Sunday. “I'll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn't like their response. They're playing too cute.”But Trump's hardball is not going down well with Americans critics outside the ambit of MAGA. “A US president declaring himself president of another nation 1000 miles from his own nation's borders is unhinged criminality. This is done to prime the US public for wider criminality to come,” Brian Berletic, a former US Marine who writes on geopolitics said in a post on X, reflecting growing alarm in the US over Trump’s threat to effect regime change in Cuba and Venezuela and invade Greenland. “This is a life and death struggle against a nuclear-armed criminal enterprise with 300+ million people under its control and a gun pointed at the head of the rest of the world,” he added.While several countries, notably China, Russia, and Brazil have condemned Washington’s takeover of Venezuela, others like Argentina, Ecuador, and Israel have supported the US action. Some others like EU, UK, and India have taken a "middle ground" of strategic acquiescence that falls short of outright condemnation, which critics say will embolden a rampant Trump II administration to flex its muscles elsewhere across the world. The MAGA supremo last week called for a staggering 50 per cent increase in the US military budget, currently at $ 1 trillion (more than that of the next ten countries combined), framing it as a necessary response to “very troubled and dangerous times” and a way to build a “Dream Military.” He has also turned the heat on Cuba and Iran over the past 72 hours.Trump told reporters on air force one that Cuba is "going down for the count" due to its worsening economic crisis and lack of subsidized fuel from Venezuela. He also reposted a suggestion that secretary of state Marco Rubio (son of Cuban immigrants) could eventually become the president of a "free" Cuba, commenting, "Sounds good to me!" "THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” he said on Truth Social amid reports of widespread fuel shortages and shutdowns in the country. After warning Tehran that he is looking “very seriously” at military options, Trump told reporters on Sunday that Iran had contacted the US to propose talks. "The meeting is being set up... Iran called, they want to negotiate," he said, attributing it to Iran being "tired of being beat up by the United States."