Trump to meet Venezuela's Rodríguez at UN after Maduro capture fallout

Washington,UPDATED: Sep 19, 2026 04:46 IST

US President Donald Trump will meet Delcy Rodrguez, the acting president of Venezuela, in New York next week during the annual United Nations General Assembly, marking their first meeting since his administration carried out an operation that captured Venezuela's former leader and effectively put her in charge. The meeting will be one of several engagements on Trump's schedule in the city.

US ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said the Trump-Rodrguez interaction would be a ‘pull-aside’, a diplomatic term for a meeting that is more casual than a formal bilateral sit-down. Waltz also said Trump will meet UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, while senior administration officials said a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared unlikely.

Rodrguez took over in Venezuela after a surprise US military raid in January that captured then-leader Nicols Maduro and brought him to the United States to face drug trafficking charges. Her first meeting with Trump comes after the two countries announced an agreement last month that gives the United States a stake in Venezuela's vast oil reserves. Rodrguez had described the deal as a step towards economic recovery that would modernise the country's oil industry.

Waltz said Trump's meeting with Burnham will be their first since Burnham became prime minister in July. Trump is also set to meet Takaichi. He will additionally hold talks with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, at a time when the US has struggled to find an endgame to the Iran war after more than six months.

Senior administration officials said they could not confirm whether Netanyahu would seek a meeting with Trump during the UN General Assembly, but suggested that was unlikely. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Netanyahu's time in New York would be limited during the Israeli electoral season and that he was not expected to arrive until after Trump leaves. They also played down the possibility of the war in Iran dominating the annual gathering, as Trump's New York visit is set to centre on a wider set of diplomatic meetings, led by his first interaction with Rodrguez.

With PTI Inputs

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