Meet the Press NOW — January 5

Meet the Press

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3.8 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

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Summary

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro makes his first court appearance after his capture and arrest. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) discusses the questions Congress has for Trump administration officials about that U.S. action. Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) reacts to President Trump declaring he’ll run Venezuela. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton gives insight into what a day-after plan for Venezuela could look like. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Meet the Press Now.
0:12.3	I'm Kristen Welker in Washington, where we're getting new reaction from President Trump
0:16.2	in an exclusive phone interview I had with him this afternoon after the stunning capture and
0:22.0	arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this weekend as the ousted leader made his first
0:27.1	court appearance today. This was the scene this morning as Maduro was transported to federal
0:32.4	court surrounded by guards before being loaded into an armored truck. Maduro and his wife both pled
0:38.7	not guilty to charges which include narco-terrorism, conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy,
0:45.8	and weapons charges. Maduro seeming defiant during court today, telling the court via a translator,
0:52.4	quote, I am still the president of my country.
0:55.7	The president reacting to today's arraignment during my phone call with him telling me,
1:00.1	quote, it is an extraordinary moment in history.
1:03.1	That's true.
1:04.0	And it's great for the hemisphere.
1:06.2	He went on to say, the prices of oil are going to, you know, be reduced. The president also telling me we are not
1:13.6	at war with Venezuela and that he would not need congressional approval to send in a second strike.
1:20.7	One of the biggest questions right now is who is really in charge in Venezuela after President
1:25.6	Trump said explicitly on Saturday that the U.S. would run the country.
1:29.1	I asked the president about that today. If Secretary's Rubio and Hegset, Stephen Miller,
1:35.2	would be the top three people in charge of Venezuela. The president said, yeah, among the top
1:40.8	people, including J.D. Vance. I then asked him, who will be the top person if there is one?
1:47.7	The president's answer to that question was me.
1:51.7	Yesterday, on Meet the Press, I also asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio about who's in charge.
	...

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