US will rule Venezuela until 'judicious transition' of power: Trump

US officials will run affairs in Venezuela until they can arrange a "safe and judicious" transition of power following the capture of strongman leader Nicolas Maduro by American forces, President Donald Trump said in a presser on Saturday.

The US Naval and special forces are bringing Maduro to New York after capturing him in a "large scale strike" on the South American country.

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. "We can't take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn't have the interests of Venezuelans in mind."

It is unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela. Despite a dramatic overnight operation that knocked out electricity in part of Caracas and captured Maduro in or near one of his safe houses, US forces have no control over the country itself, and Maduro's government appears to still be in charge.

Trump's comments about an open-ended presence in Venezuela echoed past leadership changes in Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which ended in US withdrawals after years of occupation. He said he was open to the idea of sending US forces into Venezuela.

"We're not afraid of boots on the ground," he said.

Trump did not provide specific answers to repeated questions from reporters about how the US would run Venezuela.

A US occupation "won't cost us a penny" because the United States would be reimbursed from the "money coming out of the ground," Trump said, referring to Venezuela's oil reserves, a subject he returned to repeatedly during Saturday's press conference.

Maduro's government accused the United States of an "extremely serious military aggression" which follows a months-long campaign of increasing military and economic pressure by Trump.

The US accused Maduro of running a "narco-state" and rigging the country's 2024 election.

Maduro, a 63-year-old former bus driver handpicked by his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2013, has denied those claims and said Washington was intent on taking control of his nation's oil reserves, the largest in the world.