Trump says he’s canceled second wave of attacks on Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump said he has canceled a fresh military attack on Venezuela, saying the two countries “are working well together,” on rebuilding the nation’s oil and gas infrastructure.

Writing on Truth Social on Friday, Trump noted Venezuela’s release of “large numbers of political prisoners” which he called “a very important and smart gesture.”

“Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes,” Trump said.

In a press conference on Jan. 3, Trump had suggested it was unlikely a second attack on Venezuela would be deemed necessary due to what he called the success of the first operation.

“We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack, if we need to do so,” he told reporters at the time. “So we were prepared to do a second wave if we needed to do so. We actually assumed that a second wave would be necessary. But now it’s probably not — the first wave, if you’d like to call it, the first attack was so successful, we probably don’t have to do a second but we’re prepared to do a second wave, a much bigger wave.”

Washington launched a military operation in Venezuela over the weekend that led to the capture of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, both of whom were indicted on drug trafficking charges. The pair pleaded not guilty. Maduro claimed he’d been “kidnapped” and was a “prisoner of war” at a court appearance in New York this week.

On Thursday, Jorge Rodríguez, head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, announced that the government would release a significant number of foreign and Venezuelan prisoners. Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares later said five Spanish prisoners had been released and were on a flight back to their home country.