{"id":2529295,"date":"2026-01-03T20:33:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hegseth-says-trump-sets-the-terms-for-the-future-of-venezuela\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T20:34:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T01:34:43","slug":"hegseth-says-trump-sets-the-terms-for-the-future-of-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hegseth-says-trump-sets-the-terms-for-the-future-of-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"Hegseth says Trump &#8216;sets the terms&#8217; for the future of Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhegseth-says-trump-sets-the-terms-for-the-future-of-venezuela%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2529295&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>War Secretary Pete Hegseth said president donald Trump &#8220;sets the terms&#8221; for VenezuelaS future after authorizing strikes that lead to the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro adn his wife. Hegseth told CBS that,while he would not detail specific plans,the U.S. will have a decisive role in the transition, continuing efforts against <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >drug trafficking<\/a> and illegal immigration and maintaining a blockade on Venezuelan oil shipments. Trump has said the U.S. will effectively control Venezuela &#8220;until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition&#8221; and plans to bring in American energy companies to repair and run the country&#8217;s oil industry. The operation, called &#8220;Operation Absolute Resolve,&#8221; targeted multiple sites in Caracas.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Hegseth says Trump &lsquo;sets the terms&rsquo; for the future of Venezuela<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2462359\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>War Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/pete-hegseth\">Pete Hegseth<\/a> revealed on Saturday night that President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\">Donald Trump<\/a> will determine the future for <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/venezuela\">Venezuela<\/a> after he authorized strikes on the South American country and captured its now-former president, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nicolas-maduro\">Nicolas Maduro<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth was <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hOvRTFH71pE\">asked<\/a> by CBS News&rsquo;s Tony Dokoupil to elaborate on Trump&rsquo;s <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4400674\/us-to-run-venezuela-until-transition-can-take-place\/\">statement<\/a> after the strikes that the United States would temporarily &ldquo;run&rdquo; Venezuela as it transitions to new leadership. While not disclosing what such intervention would look like, Hegseth did suggest the U.S. will have a heavy hand in the process.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/national-security\/4400669\/what-is-delta-force-military-unit-behind-the-venezuela-raid\/\">What is the Delta Force? The US military unit behind the Venezuela raid toppling Maduro<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4379454\/us-strike-drug-boat-convoy-overboard\/\">Alleged drug traffickers jump overboard after strike on boat convoy, US says<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/4364474\/cia-first-land-strikes-venezuela\/\">CIA reportedly behind first land strikes in Venezuela after Trump authorized covert operations<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;It means we set the terms. President Trump sets the terms. And ultimately he&rsquo;ll decide what the iterations are of that,&rdquo; Hegseth said. &ldquo;Ultimately we&rsquo;re gonna control what happens next because of this brave decision. President Trump has shown American leadership and he&rsquo;ll be able to dictate where we go next.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The war secretary said next steps will see the Trump administration&rsquo;s crackdown on drug trafficking and illegal immigration in Venezuela continue, as well as guaranteeing the return of &ldquo;stolen&rdquo; oil to the U.S. The blockade Trump imposed on oil tankers going in and out of the country will also remain in effect, Hegseth added.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth&rsquo;s comments echo Trump&rsquo;s own at a press conference about the strikes on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n<p>Then, Trump <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4400674\/us-to-run-venezuela-until-transition-can-take-place\/\">told<\/a> reporters the U.S. would effectively control Venezuela &ldquo;until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He also said he will bring in American energy companies to take over Venezuela&rsquo;s oil industry, which officials have suggested is running at too low of a capacity for an oil-rich nation.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/4400241\/maduro-abduction-coincides-anniversary-noriega-raid\/\">MADURO ABDUCTION COINCIDES WITH ANNIVERSARY OF NORIEGA RAID IN PANAMA<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to have our very large U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-greg-abbott-texas-must-fight-federal-overreach-biden-showing-extreme-hostility-to-state\/\" title=\"Gov. Greg Abbott: Texas Must Fight \u2018Federal Overreach\u2019; Biden Showing \u2018Extreme Hostility\u2019 To State\">oil companies<\/a>, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-says-us-is-going-to-run-venezuela-until-transition-period\/\" title=\"... says US is &#039;going to ...&#039; ... until transition period\">badly broken infrastructure<\/a>, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,&rdquo;&nbsp;Trump said.<\/p>\n<p>Trump authorized the strikes late Friday night on at least seven locations in Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela. The mission, dubbed, &ldquo;Operation Absolute Resolve,&rdquo; also included the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia, who now face drug and weapons charges in the U.S.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hegseth: Trump sets terms for Venezuela&#8217;s future<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3359,"featured_media":2529296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/hegseth-trump-sets-terms-venezuela-future.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32319,44930,37683,50813],"class_list":["post-2529295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-donald-trump","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-u-s-foreign-policy","tag-venezuela-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/hegseth-trump-sets-terms-venezuela-future.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3359"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2529295"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2529299,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2529295\/revisions\/2529299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2529296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2529295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2529295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2529295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}