State Department warns US citizens to leave Venezuela

President Donald Trump said he will be meeting with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at the White House "next week sometime."

"Well, I understand she's coming in next week sometime, and I look forward to saying hello to her," Trump said in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday.

Trump also touted his relationship with the rebuilding Venezuelan government, reiterating his efforts to dominate the region's oil infrastructure.

"We're going to rebuild the oil and the oil infrastructure, we'll be in charge of it," Trump said. "It's going to do great, make a lot of money, and we're going to take it from there, but we're going to rebuild the country. And ultimately, you're going to have elections."

Trump also took responsibility for the release of political prisoners from Venezuela after the National Assembly said releases are set to take place immediately.

"We asked them to do that, and they've been great. They really have been. I mean, we-- everything we've wanted, they've given us," Trump said.

Two prominent Venezuelan opposition politicians, five Spanish nationals, one dual Spanish-Venezuelan national and two Colombian nationals will be released by Venezuelan authorities Thursday, Venezuelan and Spanish officials confirmed to ABC News.

One of the prisoners being freed is Juan Pablo Guanipa, a Venezuelan opposition politician who served as the coordinator of the political party Justice First during the 2000s.

Enrique Marquez is also a Venezuelan opposition politician who was a vocal critic of the Maduro regime. He ran as an independent presidential candidate in the July 2024 elections.

Rafael Tudares is a lawyer and the son-in-law of opposition presidential candidate Edmund Gonzalez Urrutia, who the opposition party says defeated Maduro in the disputed 2024 election.

The names of the Venezuelan and Colombian nationals who will be released, according to the Venezuelan Communication Ministry:

• Juan Pablo Guanipa
• Enrique Marquez
• Rafael Tudares
• Juan Caguaripano

The names of the Spanish nationals who will be released, according to the Spanish president’s office:

• Ernesto Gorbe -- detained in December 2024
• Miguel Moreno, journalist -- detained in June 2025
• Rocio San Miguel, lawyer and NGO worker -- detained in February 2024
• Sofia Sahagún, a family member of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — detained in October 2024
• Andres Martinez Adasme, accused of attempting to assassinate Maduro -- detained in September 2024

-ABC News' Aicha El Hammar

At least 100 people were killed in the U.S. raid on Venezuela that captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, according to Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

"Venezuela was the victim of a crafty, barbarian attack," Cabello said.

President Donald Trump said some U.S. personnel were injured in the Jan. 3 operation and no American deaths were reported.

The U.S. military action in Venezuela is a good thing for "peace" in the Caribbean region, Vice President JD Vance claimed Thursday, saying a major source of illegal cartel revenue is now eliminated.

When asked at a press briefing on Thursday whether he’d be able to guarantee that the Caribbean region would remain a "a zone of peace," Vance first referenced President Donald Trump’s phone call on Wednesday with Colombian President Gustavo Petro and then suggested that Nicolas Maduro's capture has impacted the illegal drug trade.

“This is the president of peace. One of the ways that you establish peace in your own hemisphere is to make it clear that the United States is willing to take power away from criminal cartel organizations and give it to legitimate governments. That's how we see the future of the Western Hemisphere. We think it's going to be much more peaceful than it was,” Vance said.

Later, Vance was asked about his specific role in the future of Venezuela, saying he’s been tasked to do “whatever the president asks me to do,” but claiming he’s been thus far “very involved.”

"I want to be as involved as the president wants me to be. So far that's been very involved,” he said.

Vance also rebuked any assertion that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had been cut out of planning for the Venezuela operations based on her past military involvement.

-ABC News' Isabella Murray