President Trump returned to the White House Sunday evening after a Christmas break at Mar-a-Lago that was anything but restful. During his time at the "Winter White House," the president held peace talks with Ukraine and Israel, and also planned and executed a successful snatch and grab operation in Venezuela leading to the arrest of its dictator, Nicolás Maduro, who now faces criminal charges in the United States.
When he wasn't busy bringing narco-terrorists to justice, Trump also dined with Elon Musk and apparently killed off the political career of Minnesota's Democrat governor, Tim Walz (this is according to Walz himself).
On the Sunday trip back to Washington, D.C., aboard Air Force One, the president, along with Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), held one of his legendary press gaggles for a press pool eager for some answers on Venezuela.
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President Trump began the gaggle by saying that service members injured in Saturday's mission were in "good shape" and that he had placed calls to them. "The bravery was incredible," he said. He also warned Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela's interim president, that "she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro" if she fails to do the right thing. Trump also said, "We're in charge" when asked who's actually running things in Venezuela.
.@POTUS reiterates that if the acting Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodriguez doesn't do what's right, "she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro." pic.twitter.com/WXk6S0u79S
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 5, 2026
The president denied the U.S. is interested in nation building, stating, "We're in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful and we're the oil is allowed to freely come out because that's good. It gets the prices down. That's good for our country. We have a a very sick neighbor. It's not a neighbor, but it's close to a neighbor and that's Venezuela. It's very sick."
There are numerous questions surrounding the fate of Cuba following Maduro's arrest. Lutnick revealed that the former dictator's entire security force was made up of Cubans. "Well, Cuba always survived because of Venezuela. Now they won't have that money coming and they won't have the income coming in," added the president. "Cuba," he said, "looks like it's going down."
.@POTUS on Cuba: "I think it's just going to fall. I don't think we need any action. It looks like it's going down — it's going down for the count. You ever watch a fight? They go down for the count, and Cuba looks like it's going down." pic.twitter.com/IJ7gsX16JC
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 5, 2026
And then there's Colombia. The president didn't rule out taking action there, saying, "Colombia is very sick, too. Run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States. And he's not going to be doing it very long, let me tell you."
When asked what he meant by that statement, Trump replied, "He's not going to be doing it very long. He's not doing it very long. He has uh cocaine mills and cocaine factories. He's not going to be doing it very long. So, there will be an operation by the US and it sounds good to me. Secretary Rubio mentioned, you know why? Because they kill a lot of people."
You can watch the president's gaggle here:
WATCH IN FULL: President Donald J. Trump takes questions from reporters aboard Air Force One pic.twitter.com/OVKrEh0cyY
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 5, 2026
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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