This combination of pictures created on 8 January 2026 shows Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (L) and US President Donald Trump.
Juan Barreto/AFP
US President Donald Trump has shared an image of what looks like a Wikipedia page,in which he is named as the acting president of Venezuela.The real Wikipedia page,however,does not list Trump as Venezuela’s acting president,nor has any international body recognised that claim.Captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is currently being detained in New York.US President Donald Trump has named himself acting Venezuelan president,more than a week after the US military invaded the country and captured its president,Nicolás Maduro.
On his Truth Social app,he posted an image,which was styled like a screenshot of a Wikipedia page,which displayed his official portrait and listed him as the 45th and 47th President of the United States.
Above that,it mentioned that he was the acting president of Venezuela.
Wikipedia’s real page,does not list him as Venezuela’s acting president,nor has any international body recognised that claim.
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US forces invaded Venezuela and captured Maduro and his wife,Cilia Flores,in Caracas on drug charges earlier this month,sending shockwaves through the international community.
They were forcibly taken by US commandos in the early hours of Saturday,3 January,amid airstrikes on the Venezuelan capital,backed by warplanes and a heavy naval deployment.
Days later,Maduro pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges during an appearance in a New York court.
Maduro,63,told a federal judge in Manhattan: “I’m innocent. I’m not guilty.”
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READ | Nicolas Maduro pleads not guilty in US court,claims to still be Venezuela’s president
Thousands of people later marched through Caracas in support of Maduro as his former deputy,Delcy Rodriguez,was sworn in as the interim president.
Venezuela’s opposition leader,Maria Corina Machado,slammed Rodriguez,saying that the Venezuelan people “rejected” her and calling her “one of the main architects of torture,persecution,corruption,narcotrafficking”.
Maduro became president in 2013,succeeding his equally hardline socialist predecessor,Hugo Chávez.
New media post from Donald J. Trump
(TS: 11 Jan 20:23 ET) pic.twitter.com/aVehtmdCrl
— Commentary: Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) January 12,2026
The United States and European Union say he stayed in power by rigging elections – most recently in 2024 – and imprisoning opponents,while overseeing rampant corruption.
The crisis after a quarter century of leftist rule now leaves Venezuela’s approximately 30 million people – and the world’s largest proven oil reserves – facing uncertainty.
Trump said he wanted to work with Rodriguez and the rest of Maduro’s former team,provided that they submitted to US demands on oil.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has joined the international calls on Trump to release Maduro.
He said the incursion into Venezuela violated the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a UN member state.
Political parties in South Africa,including the EFF and ANC,have also called out Trump for his invasion of Venezuela and arrest of Maduro.
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