Trump tells The Atlantic magazine that he will not tolerate Rodríguez's, in his view, rebellious opposition to the U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro.
His tone toward Venezuela's interim leader is somewhat harsher than that of his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, earlier Sunday. He told CBS that:
"We will judge them (the leadership) by what they do, not by what they say outwardly or what they have done in the past, but by what they do going forward. So we will see," he said.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump did not rule out more attacks or even a ground invasion. But Rubio said the United States could exert significant influence on Venezuela by maintaining its stranglehold on the country's vital oil exports.
"If they don't make the right decisions, the United States will maintain its control to ensure that our interests are protected. And that includes the oil sanctions," he said.
He also told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the United States will continue to attack all boats suspected of smuggling drugs.
We are at war with the drug cartels, not with Venezuela.
In her televised speech on Saturday, Delcy Rodríguez promised resistance to the United States and demanded Maduro's release.
"What has been done to Venezuela is barbaric," she said.
