Number Of U.S. Warships Off Venezuela Reportedly Reduced After Operation To Capture Maduro

The amount of U.S. warships off the coast of Venezuela is being reduced following the operation to capture authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro this past weekend, according to a new report.

The Washington Post noted that two vessels, the USS Iwo Jima and the USS San Antonio were relocated to waters north of Cuba. At least one of them could return to its home port in Norfolk in the following weeks. However, they remain assigned to the U.S. Southern Command and could be moved into the Caribbean again, an official told the outlet.

Additional Air Force assets have also left the area, another official said. Pentagon spokeswoman Kingsley Wilson said that the Pentagon stands ready to execute Trump's orders.

The Trump administration has not ruled out sending troops to Venezuela, but so far relations with interim President Delcy Rodriguez are good, Trump said in a recent interview.

Speaking to The New York Times, he said Trump said the regime led by Rodriguez is "giving us everything that we feel is necessary."

Elsewhere in the interview, Trump said his administration expects to maintain direct oversight of the government in Caracas for an extended period, noting that it will last "much longer than a year."

Trump declined to set a specific timeline for the involvement, saying his government plans to extract and sell Venezuelan oil while providing funds back to the country. "We will rebuild it in a very profitable way," he told the news outlet, explaining that the United States would use Venezuelan crude to lower global prices while directing revenue to meet Venezuela's needs. He also acknowledged that reviving the country's oil sector would take years.

Also on Wednesday, senior administration officials told lawmakers that the United States intends to effectively control the sale of Venezuela's oil for the foreseeable future. According to briefings led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the administration envisions a three-part process of stabilization, recovery and transition following the capture of Maduro.

Rubio told reporters the first phase would involve what he described as a "quarantine," including continued seizures of sanctioned oil and the sale of up to 30 to 50 million barrels on the open market. The proceeds, he said, would be controlled by the United States and distributed in ways intended to benefit Venezuelans rather than former regime figures. A second phase would focus on reopening the Venezuelan market and rebuilding civil society, while details of a third phase, the political transition, remain undefined.