“There's a lot that needs to be fixed in order for Venezuela to be successful. Debt restructuring is key to that. … [Venezuela has] probably the world's largest sovereign debt that has to be restructured, [and] it has to be done in the right way. [Rubio called the meeting "short but important."]
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Trump Announces He Will Meet Venezuela's Acting President Delcy Rodríguez in New York — the First Sit-Down Between a U.S. President and a Venezuelan Leader in Eleven Years — and Lifts Her Country's Drug Blacklisting Over "Positive Progress," While Rick Scott Calls Her "the Head of the Drug Cartels" and Maria Elvira Salazar Calls the Meeting a "Necessary Evil"
September 19, 2026
Eight months after a U.S. military operation captured Nicolás Maduro and installed his former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as acting president, the White House announced Trump will meet her on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York — the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a Venezuelan head of state since 2015. Days before the announcement, Trump also removed Venezuela from the list of countries deemed to have failed their anti-drug-trafficking commitments, citing "positive progress" under Rodríguez. The planned meeting split Florida Republicans: Sen. Rick Scott called Rodríguez "the head of the drug cartels" and warned a photo with Trump would insult Venezuelans, while Rep. María Elvira Salazar — who has previously called Rodríguez the head of Venezuela's secret police and "one of the thieves" who destroyed the country — defended the meeting as part of Trump's strategy of engaging "bad actors" to open space for "good actors," calling her a "necessary evil for now."
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Statements Recorded
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6 Statements
“Me cae como una patada en el hígado. … A mí me molesta cuando el presidente Trump dice cosas positivas de Delcy. … No es un esfuerzo para darle legitimidad a ella o para mantenerla en el poder, sino para mantener el proceso de la transición. [Translation: "It hits me like a kick in the liver. … It bothers me when President Trump says positive things about Delcy. … It is not an effort to give her legitimacy or keep her in power, but to maintain the transition process."]
“He's sitting down with her, but I call on the president to set a date for elections. [Giménez proposed July 24, 2027, Simón Bolívar's birthday, and argued that elections are needed to unlock Venezuela's full oil production.]
“Delcy is just a necessary evil for now to stabilize [Venezuela]. Trump has forced the bad actors to create the platform for the good actors to come in. The Venezuelans love President Trump, he liberated them from socialism — from disaster, from misery.
“Given the positive progress made under the leadership of Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, I have determined that Venezuela should no longer be designated as having failed demonstrably to fulfill its drug control commitments.
“[Delcy Rodríguez es] la cabeza de los carteles de droga. Una fotografía entre ella y el mandatario estadounidense sería una falta de respeto hacia los venezolanos que sufren la crisis política del país.