Hegseth: US ready to have troops in Venezuela

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has stated that the US is prepared to have troops on the ground in Venezuela.

He made this announcement in an interview with CBS on January 3.

In an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said: "President Trump sets the terms."

"It means we set the terms. President Trump sets the terms. And ultimately, he'll decide what the iterations are of that," Hegseth said. "But, it means the drugs stop flowing, it means the oil that was taken from us is returned, ultimately, and that criminals are not sent to the United States."

Trump said earlier that "we're going to run the country" until there is a "safe, proper and judicious transition" of power in Venezuela, but he provided few details about what that may look like.

Hegseth was among the top Trump administration officials who oversaw the overnight U.S. military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro. He called it "the most sophisticated, most complicated, most successful joint special operations raid of all time."