Trump meets with Venezuela’s acting president in 1st direct talks since Maduro’s capture

US President Donald Trump held talks Tuesday with Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly session in New York, marking their first direct encounter since the capture of former President Nicolas Maduro.

“We held a historic meeting with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, during which we discussed strengthening the bilateral relationship between our countries and advancing a cooperation agenda in strategic areas such as energy, mining, security and other matters of mutual interest,” Rodriguez said on the US social media platform X.

Rodriguez expressed appreciation to the US administration for its “steadfast support” following the June 24 earthquakes and thanked Washington for assisting Caracas with its “reintegration into multilateral forums.”

She maintained that Caracas and Washington share a historic connection that both sides are now “called upon to steer through dialogue,” affirming that her administration will pursue diplomacy focused on “achieving concrete results and collective benefits for the Venezuelan people.”

The informal pull-aside discussion involved high-ranking American officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, according to a White House background disclosure.

The US did not release an official joint readout or formal statement immediately following the talks.

The encounter marks the first direct interaction between Trump and Rodriguez since a US military operation captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during a raid in Caracas on Jan. 3 and flew him to New York to face federal narcotics charges, which he denies. Following Maduro’s detention, Washington recognized Rodriguez as the head of an interim government in Caracas.

The diplomatic engagement also follows a sweeping bilateral energy pact announced in August under which Washington secured long-term rights covering more than 65 billion barrels of proven crude reserves across 17 oil fields through a binational joint venture.