President Donald Trump and Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez met face to face Tuesday for the first time since U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro in January, underscoring a rapidly changing relationship centered on energy, mining, security and renewed diplomatic cooperation.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump met Venezuelan interim President Delcy Rodríguez in New York on Tuesday in their first face-to-face encounter since U.S. forces captured then-President Nicolás Maduro in January, bringing together two governments that have moved from years of hostility toward a growing series of diplomatic and economic agreements. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly during Rodríguez’s first U.S. visit since taking office.
Rodríguez characterized the encounter as a turning point in bilateral relations in a message following the meeting.
“We held a historic meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, with whom we discussed strengthening the bilateral relationship between our countries and advancing a cooperation agenda in strategic areas such as energy, mining, security, and other matters of mutual interest,” Rodríguez wrote.
The meeting occurred during a reception hosted by Trump for foreign leaders gathered in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reported that the encounter took place at the Lotte New York Palace hotel.
Reuters described the discussion as a pull-aside meeting and reported that Rodríguez’s delegation included Venezuela’s vice president for the economy, oil minister and officials from state-owned oil company PDVSA. The delegation has been holding discussions involving energy, mining and debt as Caracas seeks investment and expanded access to international financial institutions.
In a series of additional statements, Rodríguez said her delegation thanked Trump and his administration for U.S. assistance following Venezuela’s June 24 doublet earthquake and for what she described as American backing for Venezuela’s return to multilateral organizations.
“Venezuela and the United States share a historic relationship that, in this new phase, we are called upon to steer through dialogue,” Rodríguez said. “We will continue to promote diplomacy in the service of the national interest, aimed at achieving concrete results and collective benefits for the Venezuelan people.”
Reuters reported that a White House official said Trump was joined at the meeting by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Stephen Miller, assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff for policy.
Images of the encounter were also distributed by Venezuelan state broadcaster VTV.
The meeting marks another step in a sharp change in relations since Maduro’s removal. Rodríguez had served simultaneously as Maduro’s vice president and oil minister before U.S. forces captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a Jan. 3 operation in Caracas. Rodríguez subsequently assumed leadership of the government and has worked with the Trump administration on a series of economic and diplomatic arrangements. Reuters identifies her as Venezuela’s interim president.
That cooperation represents a substantial departure from Rodríguez’s earlier posture toward Washington. During the Maduro government, she repeatedly took strongly anti-U.S. and anti-Trump positions, including in public remarks available in archived video and during her participation in the 2019 U.N. General Assembly.
The relationship between Caracas and Washington has since expanded into the energy sector.
In August, the United States and Venezuela reached an oil agreement involving 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan reserves. Trump announced that the arrangement would give the United States majority control through a partnership involving private businesses, while Venezuela said the development could attract substantial investment into its deteriorated oil industry.
Trump referred to both Maduro’s capture and the oil agreement during his Tuesday address to the General Assembly.
“To the victor belong the spoils,” Trump said while discussing the agreement, which he called “perhaps the biggest deal ever made.”
Rodríguez’s New York visit extends beyond her meeting with Trump. She arrived earlier this week to participate in the 81st session of the U.N. General Assembly and was expected to address the gathering Wednesday afternoon. She has also met with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and leaders of international financial institutions as Venezuela pursues talks involving economic reforms, debt restructuring, reconstruction and investment.
The Trump-Rodríguez encounter also carries historical significance because direct meetings between U.S. and Venezuelan leaders have been rare during decades of strained relations.
El Nacional described Tuesday’s meeting as the first formal encounter between an American and Venezuelan head of state since President Bill Clinton met Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in 1999. President Barack Obama later had a brief encounter with Maduro during the 2015 Summit of the Americas in Panama. Reuters similarly noted that Rodríguez’s trip is her first visit to the United States since becoming interim president.
Maduro and Flores, meanwhile, remain in federal custody in New York awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges. Maduro is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, several miles from U.N. headquarters.
Rodríguez had not disclosed whether she intended to visit her former political leader while in New York.
Her government’s engagement with Washington has instead centered publicly on investment, energy, mining, security and Venezuela’s return to international institutions, making Tuesday’s meeting with Trump the latest indication of the transformation in relations between the two countries since Maduro’s capture in January.
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