Trump says the U.S. isn't at war with Venezuela

Venezuela will not have new elections in the next 30 days, Trump said in an NBC News interview, projecting a longer-term engagement after U.S. forces captured Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela will not have new elections in the next 30 days, President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Monday, projecting a longer-term engagement two days after U.S. forces captured that nation's leader, Nicolás Maduro.

"We have to fix the country first. You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote," Trump said about the possibility of a vote in the next month. "No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have — we have to nurse the country back to health."

Moreover, he said, the U.S. may subsidize an effort by oil companies to rebuild the country's energy infrastructure — a project he said could take less than 18 months.

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it'll be a lot of money," he said. "A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue."

He also insisted the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela.