Delcy Rodríguez, who was vice president of Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, has been sworn in as president after Maduro’s seizure by U.S. forces Saturday to face narco-terrorism charges in New York. But President Donald Trump has made no secret about who he views as really in charge.
The United States would now “run” Venezuela, Trump said Saturday, without offering details about how. In remarks Sunday on NBC News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered his own interpretation, suggesting the U.S. would exert leverage over key policies. But Trump stuck to his version, telling reporters the same day: “We’re in charge.”
The overnight raid to remove Maduro and the ensuing remarks from the White House about what might come next continues a pattern of pledges or proposals by Trump to take control of territory outside the United States, often meeting with pushback from residents and governments of the places in question.
Here are some of the most notable instances.
Greenland
Trump has long had his eye on Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, possession of which his administration says would serve U.S. national interests. His remarks to that effect have prompted repeated and forceful rejections from Greenlandic and Danish officials.
“We need [Greenland] really for international world security, and I think we’re gonna get it. One way or another we’re gonna get it,” Trump told a joint session of Congress in March.
Last month, Trump renewed his push for Greenland after appointing a special envoy to the country, saying: “We need Greenland for national security, not for minerals. … We have to have it.”
On X on Saturday, Katie Miller, wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and a former Trump staffer, posted a map of Greenland emblazoned with an American flag with the caption “SOON.” Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, responded in a statement that the photo was “disrespectful.”
“Our country is not for sale, and our future will not be shaped by social media,” Nielsen wrote.
SOON pic.twitter.com/XU6VmZxph3
— Katie Miller (@KatieMiller) January 3, 2026
Last year, the White House was preparing an estimate for what it would cost the U.S. government to control Greenland as a territory, including the cost of providing government services to its 58,000 residents, three people with knowledge of the matter told The Washington Post.
The Gaza Strip
As Israel and Hamas negotiated a ceasefire to end the two-year war in Gaza, Trump proposed in February to “take over” Gaza, displacing its more than 2.2 million residents elsewhere and redeveloping the enclave into a “Riviera” of the Middle East.
“We’ll do what’s necessary. … We’ll take it over and develop it,” he told reporters early last year. He said he envisioned a “long-term ownership position” for the United States that would bring “great stability” to the region.
That month he posted an apparently AI-generated video to his Truth Social account that depicted an alternate-reality version of the Gaza Strip that included gold-trimmed hotels labeled “Trump Gaza,” shirtless sunbathers including Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and bazaar-like gift shops lined with Trump figurines.
“No more tunnels, no more fear. Trump Gaza is finally here,” a voice sings in the background of the video.
Trump had previously praised the territory’s “potential,” calling it a “phenomenal location, on the sea, the best weather.”
“Some fantastic things could be done with Gaza,” he added.
Canada
Before his second inauguration, Trump began publicly referring to Canada as the “51st” state, saying that eliminating the country’s sovereignty and incorporating it into the United States would benefit both countries.
“To be honest with you, Canada only works as a state,” he said in March.
White House officials have portrayed the idea as a serious proposal. “As President Trump has said, Canadians would benefit from lower taxes and secure borders as residents of America’s cherished 51st state,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said early last year.
Trump’s repeated threats of annexation, alongside harsh trade policies, prompted a backlash in Canada that swept the Liberal Party — the leader of which, Mark Carney, vowed to stand up to Trump — to an election victory.
The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal has become a battleground in the bid for influence between the United States and China. Trump has long fixated on the canal, repeatedly claiming that China runs the waterway and vowing to take it back.
Rubio said in February that the status quo in the Panama Canal is unacceptable, citing China’s “position of influence” there. He characterized the presence of two Hong Kong-based companies and Chinese firms around the canal as a “threat.”
Venezuela
After the U.S. military operation this weekend in Venezuela, Trump told reporters Saturday that the United States would “run” Venezuela for an unspecified period.
“We’ll run it properly. We’ll run it professionally. We’ll have the greatest oil companies in the world go in and invest billions,” he said, adding that his administration is “not afraid of boots on the ground.”
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, condemned Trump’s attack on Venezuela.
“Where will this go next?” he said, asking whether the president would deploy troops to Iran, Gaza, Nigeria or “to seize Greenland or the Panama Canal?”
“Trump has threatened to do all this and more and sees no need to seek legal authorization from people’s elected legislature before putting servicemembers at risk,” Kaine added.
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