Some Clips Of Trump’s Press Conference

In case you missed it.

Some weird Trumpian hyperbole.

Trump: "It was an assault like people have not seen since World War 2"

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-03T16:41:41.560Z

In case you are wondering who Machado is, here’s a piece from FNC: María Corina Machado emerges as top potential successor after Máduro’s fall.

Trump on María Corina Machado: "I think it'd be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn't have the support or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman but she doesn't have the respect."

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-03T17:34:25.098Z

We’ve never heard this one before.

Q: Is it possible that the US ends up administering Venezuela for years?TRUMP: Well, you know, it won't cost us anything because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-03T17:35:37.385Z

Trump says Venezuela's oil wealth "goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country"

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-03T17:38:36.159Z

As to who will run the country.

Reporter: Who would run Venezuela? Trump: It is largely going to be the people standing right behind me. We are going to be running it

Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) 2026-01-03T17:23:36.058Z

FOX & FRIENDS: What do you think is next for the Venezuelan people now that you have removed Maduro so he can face American justice?TRUMP: Well, we're making that decision now. We can't take a chance on letting somebody else run it, just take over where he left off. So we're making that decision

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-01-03T14:41:51.804Z

Also:

FILED UNDER: Latin America, National Security, US Politics, World Politics
Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter and/or BlueSky.

Comments

  1. Sleeping Dog says:
  2. Michael Reynolds says:

    The most powerful nation on earth has a mad king. If we had a Congress he would be impeached and removed for the good of the nation and the world.

    Obviously this will end horribly, there is literally no way it ends well. Zero possibility of anything but an awful outcome.

    9
  3. JohnSF says:

    oflog
    The most powerful military in history, commanded by a kayfabe barker who makes Joe Six-Pack look like Socrates.

    5
  4. Ken_L says:

    Anybody who believes Trump’s account of what someone told him in a conversation is nuts. Quite apart from being a compulsive liar, Trump never listens to what other people are saying to him. He simply waits for them to pause so he can rant some more about whatever bee he has in his bonnet that day. He probably spent 10 minutes complaining to Rodriguez about the state of the Kennedy Center before he restored it.

    I did appreciate the reference to World War 2. Watching a few helicopters fly over Caracas with occasional explosions, I couldn’t help thinking how much it resembed D-Day, or the final Russian assault on Berlin.

    7
  5. Rob1 says:

    @Ken_L: Yeah, but “not witnessed since WWII”??? Oh yeah, that right, Bonespurs was too busy dodging STDs during Vietnam to be up on that war. And too self absorbed to have clear memories of our other military actions of the past 40 years.

    2