Donald Trump has declared himself the “acting president of Venezuela” in an unhinged Truth Social post.
The apparent “America First” president shared an edited screenshot of his Wikipedia page suggesting he is the leader of the South American country as of January 2026, alongside his actual titles as the 45th and 47th president of the United States.
The fake image was shared as the 79-year-old continues to suggest he will “run” Venezuela after U.S. forces attacked the country and abducted its president, Nicolás Maduro, so he could face “narcoterrorism” charges in New York.
Ironically, after detaining Venezuela’s authoritarian leader and threatening to take control of the country’s state-run oil reserves for an unspecified period, Trump has given no indication of when Venezuela will be able to hold an election for a new president.
Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president, became Venezuela’s acting president soon after he was captured as part of the brazen operation.
Trump has suggested that U.S. oil companies—whom he tipped off about the Venezuela attack without notifying Congress—will invest in the South American country to help rebuild its dilapidated energy infrastructure. Venezuela has the world’s largest estimated oil reserves, although much of it is dense crude that is uneconomic to extract and process at current market prices.
Days after Maduro’s capture, Trump announced on Truth Social that the Venezuelan government would be “turning over between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels” for the U.S. to sell, adding that “that money will be controlled by me.”
Trump told top oil executives during a White House meeting last week that he is seeking $100 billion in investment to revive Venezuela’s oil production under his plan to “control” the country during this turbulent period.
However, Trump has suggested he may block ExxonMobil from participating in any Venezuela plans after the oil company’s CEO, Darren Woods, called the country “uninvestable” during the meeting.
“We have had our assets seized there twice and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen and what is currently the state,” Woods said. “Today it’s uninvestable.”
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday while returning to Washington, D.C., Trump said he “didn’t like Exxon’s response” to his plans for Venezuela.
“I’ll probably be inclined to keep Exxon out. I didn’t like their response. They’re playing too cute,” Trump told reporters.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
