WASHINGTON: Donald Trump claimed he was popular in Venezuela, where he might consider running for president after completing his US term.
In light-hearted remarks during a press conference on Monday, Trump said he would poll higher than anybody ever has in Venezuela, where US forces captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in January to face drug trafficking trials in the US.
“The people of Venezuela, they say, if I ran for president of Venezuela, I’m polling higher than anybody has ever polled in Venezuela. So after I’m finished with this, I can go to Venezuela,” Trump said.
“I will quickly learn Spanish. It won’t take too long. I’m good at languages, and I will go to Venezuela. I’m going to run for president. But we’re very happy with the president-elect that we have right now,” the US president said.
Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez took over as acting president after Nicolás Maduro’s capture by US forces on January 3 this year.
During the press conference, Trump said the conflict with Venezuela was “over in 45 minutes” and boasted that the United States had taken hundreds of millions of barrels of oil from the country.
“We have great people running Venezuela. The relationship is good, and we are a partner with Venezuela. We’ve taken hundreds of millions of barrels (of oil) already; it is in Houston, refined and shipped out, and it has paid for that war many, many times over,” Trump said.