WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez may pay a bigger price than ousted leader Nicolas Maduro “if she doesn’t do what’s right,” according to an interview with The Atlantic magazine.
Trump initially praised Rodriguez on Saturday after U.S. forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from Caracas. Rodriguez said later, however, that her country would defend its natural resources.
“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Trump was quoted as saying in the telephone interview held as he arrived at his West Palm Beach golf course in Florida.
The U.S. president defended his decision to take Maduro by force, telling the magazine: “You know, rebuilding there and regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now. Can’t get any worse.”
Trump also said other countries may be subject to American intervention. “We do need Greenland, absolutely,” he said of the island that is part of Denmark, a NATO country.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sergio Non)
