On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, U.S. President Donald Trump held his first in-person talks with Venezuela’s interim head of state Delcy Rodríguez, a landmark meeting that comes just weeks after a U.S. military operation seized former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas and installed Rodríguez’s U.S.-backed administration.
The encounter took place just kilometers from a New York detention facility where Maduro is currently being held, awaiting trial on charges of drug trafficking and additional criminal offenses. The meeting included other senior U.S. officials: Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles also joined the bilateral discussions.
Following the talks, Rodríguez confirmed that the two sides had negotiated a roadmap to deepen cooperation across key strategic sectors, including energy, mining, and national security. The Rodríguez administration has already signed a landmark energy agreement that grants the U.S. control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves — equivalent to over one-fifth of the country’s total proven reserves. The deal also awards a U.S.-led energy corporation 100-year operating concessions for 17 major Venezuelan oil fields. Trump has previously hailed the agreement as “the biggest oil deal in world history.”
During his Monday address to the UN General Assembly, Trump emphasized that the U.S. and the new Venezuelan government combined now hold more than 60 percent of the world’s total proven oil reserves, closing his remark on the topic with the phrase: “To the victor belong the spoils.” Rodríguez is scheduled to deliver her own address to the UN assembly on Wednesday.
Rodríguez’s political path to the presidency reflects the rapid shift in Venezuela’s political landscape. She previously served as vice president under Maduro, and was originally sanctioned by the U.S. in 2018 over her role in the Maduro administration. Those sanctions were fully lifted in April this year, just months before the U.S. raid on Caracas. Days after the U.S. operation, Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president by Venezuela’s National Assembly with explicit backing from the White House.
Prominent Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has repeatedly been blocked from re-entering the country since the political transition, a development that has drawn little public comment from the new administration or U.S. officials.