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U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim of being the “acting president of Venezuela” has drawn warnings from international relations experts, who say the move undermines state sovereignty and reflects dangerous geopolitical ambitions.
Speaking exclusively to DAILY POST, international relations expert Khalid Iliyasu Dauda, a lecturer at Skyline University, Nigeria, said Trump’s actions in Venezuela mirror a broader pattern of strategic intervention.
“Venezuela’s vast oil reserves make it impossible to separate U.S. pressure on Maduro from energy interests,” Dauda said, “especially when claims about crime or democracy coincide with moves that would give Washington leverage over oil production and markets. As Henry Kissinger put it, ‘He who controls oil controls power.’ The same logic applies to Greenland, where interest is driven not only by oil but also by valuable minerals and its strategic location in the Arctic.”
Dauda emphasised, “Powerful states often frame such actions as protecting civilians while pursuing political and resource goals. Trump’s self‑declaration as ‘acting president’ of Venezuela follows the same logic: projecting power, controlling resources, and advancing global influence.”
Trump made the claim on Monday via a post on his Truth Social account, sharing a mock Wikipedia page listing him as Venezuela’s acting president. The post comes after a U.S. military operation in early January that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their Caracas residence.
“Strategic resources and oil explain part of Trump’s behaviour, but they are not the full story,” Dauda added.
“These cases reflect a neo‑imperial pattern, where resource wealth, strategic geopolitical positioning, rivalry with powers like China and Russia, and control over governance all merge. Oil matters, but the deeper issue is influence over resources, sovereignty, and the global balance of power.”
Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez has rejected Trump’s claim, insisting that the country continues to be governed by its constitutional authorities.
“Who governs Venezuela? The power of the people and their constitutional government,” she said.
“The Venezuelan people govern here, and there is a government: the government of President Nicolás Maduro. I have the responsibility to lead the country while he is held captive.”
Dauda stressed that Trump’s recent Nigerian rhetoric is part of the same pattern of framing interventions under the guise of humanitarian concern while advancing strategic interests.
“Some commentators have suggested that Trump’s administration orchestrated a ‘Christian genocide’ in Nigeria to exploit resources,” Dauda said.
“There is no clear evidence of a deliberate campaign, but history shows that powerful countries often justify interventions as protecting civilians while also pursuing political and resource goals. In practice, this can worsen conflicts rather than stop violence.”
Dauda concluded that Trump’s actions in Venezuela, combined with his rhetoric on Nigeria, signal a broader strategy of asserting unilateral power and influence over weaker states.
“Trump’s self‑declaration as acting president represents a blatant infringement on state sovereignty and a violation of the principle of non‑intervention under international law,” he said.
“Even without international recognition, it is a unilateral assertion of power, reflecting how hegemonic states sometimes leverage coercion and symbolism to advance strategic interests at the expense of weaker nations.”
