President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social platform early Saturday morning that his government has managed a breakthrough with the authoritarian dictator of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, regarding the repatriation of citizens of his country illegally in the United States, including members of a dangerous gang. In addition, he announced that some Americans who were being held by Maduro in Venezuela are going to be released as well.
“It is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home and, very important to note, that Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” Trump wrote. “Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back. We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all Countries, and all Countries have agreed to accept these illegal aliens back. Furthermore, record numbers of criminals are being removed from our Country, and the Border numbers are the strongest they have been since the First Term of the Trump Administration!”
Earlier this week, Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, traveled to Venezuela to deliver a direct message to Maduro, demanding that his government accept the return of violent criminals deported from the United States. During a call with reporters on Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. special envoy to Latin America, stated that Grenell would make it clear to Maduro that Venezuela must immediately accept all Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua gang members who have been “exported to the United States”—without conditions or delay, according to Fox News.
The trip “focuses on two very specific issues. That we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are, to every country in the world, without conditions, and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally,” he explained. “This is not a quid pro quo. It’s not a negotiation in exchange for anything. President Trump himself has made that very clear,” Calver-Carone added.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Friday that Grenell, who served an intelligence role in Trump’s first term, had arrived in Venezuela for talks. Despite widespread belief among Venezuelan citizens and much of the international community that Maduro lost the 2024 presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, he was still sworn in for his third six-year term earlier this month.
