‘She Will Pay Very Big Price’: Trump's Warning To Venezuela’s Interim Leader

<p>US President Donald Trump has issued a fresh warning to Venezuela&rsquo;s interim leader Delcy Rodr&iacute;guez, saying she would face severe consequences if she failed to comply with US demands.</p> <p>Speaking to The Atlantic, Trump said Rodr&iacute;guez would &ldquo;pay a very big price&rdquo; if she did not &ldquo;do what&rsquo;s right&rdquo;, adding that the cost could be &ldquo;probably bigger than Maduro.&rdquo;</p> <p>Rodr&iacute;guez, who served as vice president under Nicol&aacute;s Maduro, was declared acting president by Venezuela&rsquo;s supreme court after US forces captured Maduro and transported him to the United States.</p> <h2>Trump's Tone Shifts</h2> <p>Trump&rsquo;s remarks marked a sharp shift from his tone a day earlier, when he described a conversation between Rodr&iacute;guez and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as &ldquo;gracious&rdquo;.</p> <p>&ldquo;She had a long conversation with Marco, and she said, &lsquo;We&rsquo;ll do whatever you need,&rsquo;&rdquo; Trump told reporters on Saturday. &ldquo;I think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn&rsquo;t have a choice. We&rsquo;re going to have this done right.&rdquo;</p> <p>However, later the same day, Rodr&iacute;guez publicly declared that Maduro remained &ldquo;the only president of Venezuela&rdquo; and demanded his &ldquo;immediate liberation&rdquo;.</p> <h2>US Doesn't Recognise Venezuela&rsquo;s Current Regime: Rubio</h2> <p>Rubio, speaking on This Week, said the US did not recognise the legitimacy of Venezuela&rsquo;s current regime, arguing that it had not come to power through free and fair elections. He added that legitimacy would require a transition followed by real elections.</p> <p>In a separate interview on Meet the Press, Rubio said discussions about potential elections in Venezuela would be premature at this stage.</p> <p>Trump also hinted at the possibility of further US military action, saying on Saturday that Washington was &ldquo;ready to stage a second and much larger attack&rdquo; if required. He added that the US was effectively &ldquo;rebuilding&rdquo; Venezuela, describing the country&rsquo;s infrastructure as &ldquo;rotted&rdquo;.</p> <p>Reiterating that view in his interview with The Atlantic, Trump said regime change and reconstruction were preferable to the current situation. &ldquo;You know, rebuilding there and regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Can&rsquo;t get any worse.&rdquo;</p> <p>During the interview, Trump also reiterated his interest in US control over Greenland, calling it essential for American defence. His remarks triggered fresh reactions after Katie Miller, a right-wing podcaster and wife of Trump adviser Stephen Miller, posted an image on X showing an American flag superimposed on a map of Greenland.</p> <p>Denmark&rsquo;s ambassador to the US, Jesper M&oslash;ller S&oslash;rensen, responded by stressing that Denmark and the US were close allies and that Copenhagen expected full respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark.</p> <p>Trump has previously declined to rule out the use of military pressure over Greenland or Panama, saying both were vital to US economic and security interests.</p>

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