‘Acting President of Venezuela’: Trump confirms he now governs Venezuela as well

Soon after Donald Trump kidnapped Nicolas Maduro and informed the world that he was now going to decide Venezuela’s fate, I said this made him the de facto President of Venezuela. Sure, he might not officially be the country’s leader on paper, but if Trump alone holds the levers of power…

Now it seems that Trump himself agrees with my assessment of the situation. Taking to social media, Trump added another feather to his cap by naming himself the “Acting President of Venezuela” and the official successor to Maduro:

Trump posts that he’s “Acting President of Venezuela” pic.twitter.com/Hgbj4ZhqMr

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 12, 2026

Perhaps Venezuelans should be thankful that Trump has only installed himself as the “acting” president of their country without their consent. Presumably, Trump sees himself as something of a caretaker until he can find someone weak and submissive enough to install in the Miraflores Palace who’ll follow his orders to the letter.

El Commandante Donald assumes power

Then again, given that all historic evidence suggests that Trump absolutely despises handing over even a shred of power, maybe he’ll simply quietly erase the “acting” from that title and just take over as President.

After all, how hard can being the President of Venezuela really be? It’s not as big or as populous as California, and Trump already runs that! Probably better to just ensure that there’s not going to be any pesky flare-ups of socialism again and keep Venezuela clutched close to his sweaty chest.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

— Lillypj (@LillianHat25523) January 12, 2026

Could it actually become a state under its new president? Well, let’s not go that far! We wouldn’t want to give millions of Venezuelans a U.S. passport and freedom of movement across the continental United States, would we?

So, for now, Venezuela is going to have to accept being a humiliated and subservient footnote on Trump’s resume. Those Venezuelans are just going to have to sit there and like it as their beneficent new leader drains their country of its natural resources and pours billions into his friends’ bank accounts.

In addition, if Trump really is going to simply become the leader of multiple countries linked economically, with the satellite nations subjugated under military rule, we already have a name for that job. So, all hail Emperor Trump I, Beloved Leader of the United States of America and the Honored President of Venezuela! But wait, there’s still more space on the letterhead for “Exalted Ruler of Greenland!”