With a Straight Face, Mike Johnson Says U.S. Ouster of Maduro ‘Is Not a Regime Change’

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) claimed that the U.S. overthrow of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “is not a regime change.”

On Saturday, U.S. forces invaded Venezuela and captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Two days later, they appeared before a federal judge in New York, where they pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as interim president and has demanded Maduro’s return. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has claimed it is in charge of Venezuela.

Johnson took questions from reporters at the Capitol on Monday night.

“So, how is the United States gonna run Venezuela?” CNN’s Manu Raju asked, noting that Trump has said the U.S. is in charge of the country. “And how much is this gonna cost the United States taxpayers in terms of dollars and troops?”

Johnson replied by claiming that, actually, regime change had not taken place in Venezuela:

This is not a regime change. This is a demand for change of behavior by a regime. The interim government is stood up now, and we are hopeful that they will be able to correct their action. They cannot participate with narco terrorists and very dangerous international criminal organizations that harm and target Americans and traffic all these dangerous drugs into our country, that do all this great harm to our country. They cannot continue that activity.

Previously, Johnson had spoken critically of “the Maduro regime,” which no longer exists. But according to the speaker, “This is not a regime change.”

Supporters of the invasion have pointed to Maduro’s human rights abuses, though President Donald Trump has made clear he wants the U.S. to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry.

“We are going to have to have big investments by the oil companies to bring back the infrastructure,” he said on Sunday Air Force One. “The oil companies are ready to go, they are going to build back the infrastructure.”

And on Monday, the president told NBC News, “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.”

Venezuelan officials say at least 80 people were killed during the U.S. raid to abduct Maduro.

The operation came after a months-long campaign of aggression against Venezuela, as the Trump administration bombed several boats originating from the country and seized two of its oil tankers. Trump maintained that the boats were carrying drugs.

In November, Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was serving 45 years in U.S. prison after being found guilty on drug trafficking and weapons charges. In 2024, a jury found Hernandez guilty of conspiring to distribute 400 tons of cocaine to the U.S.

Watch above via C-SPAN.