Trump: Judge for yourself what the action in Venezuela means for Greenland

(Patria) - In a phone interview with The Atlantic, US President Donald Trump sent a veiled but clear threat to the new leader of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, saying she will "pay a very high price, probably higher than Maduro", if she does not act as Washington expects.

Trump made it clear that he will not tolerate what he described as a defiant rejection of the US armed intervention that led to Maduro's arrest.

During the conversation, which took place shortly after he arrived at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Trump was in visibly good spirits and reiterated that Venezuela might not be the last country to face US intervention.

"We need Greenland, absolutely," Trump said, describing the island, which is part of Denmark, as an area "surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships." Speaking about Venezuela's future, he clearly signaled a departure from his earlier opposition to regime change.

"You know, rebuilding and regime change, whatever you want to call it, is better than what they have now. It can't get any worse," Trump said.

His sharp tone towards Rodríguez contrasts with the praise he offered her yesterday, just hours after US forces attacked Caracas and arrested Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores for prosecution.

At a press conference after the attack, Trump said that Rodríguez had privately informed him that she was ready to cooperate with the US, which, he said, would temporarily "manage" the country.

"She is essentially ready to do what we deem necessary to make Venezuela great again," Trump said yesterday.

Rodríguez soon rejected such claims, stating that the country "is ready to defend its natural resources" and that the defense and security apparatuses remain ready to implement Maduro's policy, whose return to power she requested.

"We will never be a colony again," she stated.

The possibility of Maduro's power structure continuing to resist US control has increased the risk of a prolonged conflict for dominance over Venezuela, which could require further US military engagement, even occupation.

Yesterday, Trump said he was ready to order a new wave of military action in Venezuela if he deemed it necessary.

"Rebuilding in the case of Venezuela is not a bad thing. That country has gone to hell. It's a failed state. A completely failed state. A disaster in every sense," Trump claims.

Trump has repeatedly said that the US must maintain control over the Western Hemisphere, referring to his own version of the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which he calls the "Donroe Doctrine."

However, in the interview, he noted that the decision to arrest the Venezuelan president was not made solely because of geography.

"It's not about the hemisphere. It's about the country. About individual countries," he stated.

When asked if the attack on Venezuela also meant a readiness for military action to take control of Greenland, Trump replied that it was up to others to judge.

Trump reiterated that the US "needs" Greenland.

"It is up to others to judge for themselves what US military action in Venezuela means for Greenland. We need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defense," Trump concluded.