Trump: “Venezuela was very unhappy, now it is happy”

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that Venezuela is now “happy” following the military operation he authorized earlier this year to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

During a television interview, British outlet GB News asked Trump whether the “ultimate goal” of the operation had always been to reach an oil agreement with Venezuela. In response, Trump pointed to the country’s “enormous amounts of oil, among other things.”

“But the country was very unhappy, and now it is happy,” Trump said, before referring to U.S. companies that will invest millions of dollars in Venezuela and provide “new equipment” to extract its crude oil.

Trump went on to say that Venezuela had oil but “wasn’t using it because the system was bad.” He added that the United States now has a “good relationship” with the government led by Delcy Rodríguez.

This is not the first time Trump has made a similar claim. On June 26, just two days after Venezuela was hit by a powerful double earthquake, he said that “people are happy, they’re dancing in the streets.”