Top Trump administration officials will continue to diplomatically engage with those remaining in the Venezuelan government after the stunning overnight raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a top U.S. official tells Axios' Marc Caputo.

• President Trump said today at an hour-long Mar-a-Lago news conference that the U.S. is "going to run" Venezuela until a "proper transition can take place."
• "We're going to be running it with a group, and we're going to make sure it's run properly," he said.

👀 Two other key developments to watch:

🛢️ 1. The Trump administration will engage with oil executives to begin oil expansion in the country, the source tells Axios.

• The U.S. embargo on all oil produced in Venezuela will remain in effect.

🪖 2. The U.S. military "will remain postured and ready," the source says.

• "We're not afraid of boots on the ground," Trump said at the conference today. "We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level."

💰 During his news conference, Trump also referred to billions of dollars in outstanding judgments awarded to natural resource companies that sued Venezuela for expropriating their property.

• Companies like ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips say their oil fields were taken by Venezuela without compensation nearly 20 years ago.
• Venezuela has been loath to pay international debts, a problem that may be solved by simply seizing the oil.

In the U.S., Maduro will face a trial after he and his wife were flown out of South America — in what will inevitably become a lengthy legal process.

• The indictment of Maduro accuses him and his associates of terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, drug trafficking, corruption of public institutions to protect illegal drug shipments, and partnerships with foreign drug-terror groups. Read the charges.

"The administration will continue to take action to dismantle drug cartels and take lethal action against foreign drug traffickers and narco-terrorists who are attempting to bring illegal drugs to the homeland," the source said.

🇻🇪 The intrigue: Caputo reports that as the day wore on, some Trump advisers had growing qualms about what's ahead.

• Trump caught Venezuelan exiles and experts by surprise by saying that opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize, might not be best suited to run the country.
• "I think it'd be very tough for her to be the leader," Trump said. "She doesn't have the support or the respect within the country. She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect."

Trump's blunt comment speaks to the broader problem that the fractured opposition party has had in Venezuela.

• After Trump's press conference, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez contradicted Trump's claim that she'd comply with the U.S. government.
• Rodriguez later asserted she was not the country's leader — Maduro is. (Under the country's law, the VP is next in line for power.) And she signaled she wasn't on board with deposing Maduro.
• Rodriguez said Venezuela won't submit to being a U.S. "colony."

Go deeper.

The U.S. will be "very strongly involved" in Venezuela's oil industry, President Trump said today, asserting that American companies will take a lead in rebuilding its deteriorating petroleum infrastructure, Axios' Ben Geman and Chuck McCutcheon report.

• Trump's comments about Venezuela's oil — which accounts for 17% of global reserves — raise many unanswered questions, including how much interest companies have in reestablishing operations.
• Chevron is currently the only U.S. oil company operating there.

"What can I say? We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we're going to be very much involved in it," Trump told "Fox & Friends Weekend" in a lengthy phone interview this morning.

• Trump said later at a news conference: "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, and start making money for the country."

🧩 Between the lines: While Venezuela has the world's largest known reserves, it has a relatively small stature in global oil markets.

• Its production and exports have declined amid years of mismanagement, sanctions and underinvestment.

📊 What we're watching: The market reaction to the strikes and Maduro's capture when oil trading begins again on Sunday evening.

• There's often an initial spike on news of geopolitical friction or conflict involving oil producers and exporters.
• But the latest developments could ultimately push prices in the other direction.

Go deeper ... Get Axios Future of Energy.

Congressional Democrats are blasting the Trump administration for its overnight operation in Venezuela, Axios' Hill team reports.

• The lawmakers say the president blatantly overstepped his authority by not seeking congressional authorization for the operation beforehand.

⚖️ Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said he'd force a vote next week on his bipartisan resolution stipulating that the U.S. "should not be at war with Venezuela absent a clear congressional authorization."

• Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the operation "reckless" and said the administration "must brief Congress immediately on its objectives, and its plan to prevent a humanitarian and geopolitical disaster."

Multiple Democrats noted that top Trump officials previously testified to Congress that the U.S. was not seeking to oust Maduro, and would seek congressional authorization for any ground operations in Venezuela.

The other side: Top Republican lawmakers praised and defended the operation, with Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) calling it "decisive and justified."

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said today that administration officials called members of Congress immediately afterward. He said this was "not the kind of mission" where "you could pre-notify" because it would have endangered success.
• 🗣️ Trump said there were concerns about leaks from Capitol Hill, telling reporters: "We don't want leakers."

🧨 Two Republicans were critical of the operation: Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).

• Greene, who has accused the administration of prioritizing foreign interventions over domestic concerns, said Americans' "disgust with our own government's never-ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it."

Keep reading ... Get Axios Hill Leaders.

1. 💰 Traders and speculative bettors on Polymarket earned huge profits because of the capture of Maduro — with one investor netting an eye-popping $436,759.61. Go deeper.
2. 🚨 Hours after the U.S. captured Maduro, President Trump sent a warning to the governments of Mexico, Cuba and Colombia that their countries could be next. Go deeper.
3. ✈️ Hundreds of Caribbean flights were canceled, as parts of airspace near Venezuela are effectively off-limits to U.S. passenger airlines. Airlines are scrambling their schedules, leaving travelers unclear on when they'll actually be able to fly to and from the area. Go deeper.

Countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Russia and Iran, condemned the Trump administration's operation to capture Maduro, Axios' Lauren Floyd writes.

What they're saying:

• 🇧🇷 Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wrote on X: "Bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line."
• 🇲🇽 Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release translated from Spanish to English: "Latin America and the Caribbean is a zone of peace, built on the basis of mutual respect ... so any military action seriously jeopardizes regional stability."
• 🇨🇴 Colombian President Gustavo Petro shared on X "deep concern" about the reports of explosions in the region. He said Colombia "reiterates its conviction that peace, respect for international law, and the protection of life and human dignity must prevail over any form of armed confrontation."
• 🇷🇺 Russia's foreign minister accused the U.S. of "an act of armed aggression against Venezuela."
• 🇮🇷 Iran called the attack a "flagrant violation" of Venezuelan sovereignty.

💬 Other leaders put out more neutral statements. EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote that Maduro "lacks legitimacy" but the UN Charter "must be respected."

• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has previously criticized the U.S. actions in Venezuela, called for "de-escalation."

The other side: Argentina's right-wing President Javier Milei celebrated the news, responding on X with his slogan: "LONG LIVE FREEDOM!"

Go deeper: Trump captures a presidential drug suspect after pardoning another, by Axios' Andrew Childers.