The president spoke to Fox News by phone hours after he announced the U.S. had captured the president of the oil-rich South American country.

President Donald Trump said the United States will be "very strongly involved" in Venezuela`s oil industry in an interview just hours after he announced that the military had conducted a strike against the country and captured its leader, President Nicolas Maduro.

Speaking to "Fox & Friends" by phone Saturday morning, Trump was asked about "the future" of the oil industry in the South American country, which houses the world`s largest oil reserves.

"Well, I see that we`re going to be very strongly involved in it, that`s all," the president responded. "I mean, what can I say?"

He touted the U.S. as having the "biggest" and "greatest" oil companies in the world before reiterating, "we`re going to be very much involved in it."

Trump on Venezuela’s oil industry: “We are going to be strongly involved in it.” pic.twitter.com/blwdc78DSp

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) January 3, 2026

Later in the conversation, Trump defended the military action as "saving lives" amid the flow of illegal drugs into the U.S. The Justice Department released an indictment Saturday morning of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges.

In previous weeks, the Trump administration has killed at least 115 people in military strikes on boats it said were involved in drug smuggling.

"I think it sends a signal we`re not going to be, we`re not going to be pushed around as a country anymore by these countries," Trump told Fox.