Explainer
Morality,
military might and a sense of mischief: key takeaways from Trump’s New York
Times interview
Trump
sounds off on Venezuela’s future, Taiwan’s security and his aims for Greenland,
days after operation to seize Nicolás Maduro
Jonathan
Yerushalmy
Fri 9 Jan
2026 03.15 GMT
Just days
after launching an unprecedented operation in Venezuela to seize its president
and effectively take control of its oil industry, Donald Trump sat down with
New York Times journalists for a wide-ranging interview that took in everything
from international law, Taiwan, Greenland and weight-loss drugs.
The
president, riding high on the success of an operation that has upended the
rules of global power, spoke candidly and casually about the new world order he
appears eager to usher in; an order governed not by international norms or
long-lasting alliances, but national strength and military power.
Here are
some key points from his interview with the Times.
1. US is
in Venezuela for the long haul
When
asked how long he would be “running Venezuela”, Trump said it would be “much
longer” than a year.
After
Trump initially claimed that the US was running the South American country, in
the hours after the operation that seized President Nicolás Maduro, members of
Trump’s cabinet sought to downplay America’s role in its governance. Since then
however, Trump has continued to assert that he is in fact “in charge”.
Saturday’s
operation in Caracas has been described by some as a violation of international
law, but in his conversation with the Times, Trump said, “I don’t need
international law.”
When
asked if there were any limits on his powers on the world stage, Trump said:
“Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind.”
Trump
said he was “getting along very well” with interim president Delcy Rodríguez,
adding that the US would be taking the country’s oil and “giving money to
Venezuela, which they desperately need”.
2. Seize
Greenland or preserve the Nato alliance?
Trump has
spent the days since the attack on Venezuela renewing his push for the US to
acquire Greenland and has not ruled out using military force to take it. He has
framed the issue as one of national security, but when pushed by White House
correspondent David E Sanger on why he hasn’t chosen to simply reopen bases and
send troops to Greenland under the terms of a decades-old treaty, Trump
insisted the territory must be part of the US.
“I think
that ownership gives you a thing that you can’t do with … a lease or a treaty,”
the president said, adding “that’s what I feel is psychologically needed for
success.”
When
asked by the Times whether obtaining Greenland or preserving the Nato alliance
was more important, Trump declined to answer. He did however acknowledge that
it “may be a choice” between the two options.
Greenland
was formerly ruled by Denmark – which still controls its foreign and security
policies – and both countries are members of Nato. However in his interview on
Wednesday, Trump said that alliance was essentially useless without the US.
“I think
we’ll always get along with Europe, but I want them to shape up … If you look
at Nato, Russia I can tell you is not at all concerned with any other country
but us,” he said.
3. Taiwan
is safe, for now ...
When
asked whether his actions in Venezuela may set a precedent for China to invade
Taiwan, Trump said he saw no similarities between the two scenarios.
“You
didn’t have drugs pouring into China … You didn’t have the jails of Taiwan
opened up and the people pouring into China,” Trump said, describing Venezuela
as a “real threat”.
In the
days after the attack on Venezuela, commentators in China leapt on the
operation as an example of how an assault on Taiwan could play out. Leaders in
the UK and Europe have also suggested China may be emboldened by Trump’s
actions.
The
president, however, appeared sanguine about such a threat. He said it was up to
Chinese leader Xi Jinping what China does in Taiwan, but added he would be
“very unhappy” with a change in the status quo.”
China
views democratically governed Taiwan as its own – despite the rejection of such
an idea by most Taiwanese people. Beijing has said it could use military force
to take Taiwan, but the US president said he didn’t believe that Xi would make
such a move during his term of power.
“He may
do it after we have a different president, but I don’t think he’s going to do
it with me as president,” Trump said.
4.
Nuclear arms control treaty with Russia can lapse
Trump
indicated he would allow the last US-Russia strategic arms control treaty to
expire, and did not say whether he would accept an offer made by Vladimir Putin
in September last year for both sides to voluntarily maintain the limits on
nuclear weapons deployments, once it ends.
“If it
expires, it expires,” Trump said of the 2010 New Start accord, which is set to
end in February. “We’ll just do a better agreement.”
Arms
control advocates fear the world’s two biggest nuclear powers will begin
deploying strategic warheads beyond the pact’s limits after it expires. Thomas
Countryman, a former top state department arms control official, said there
were “plenty of advocates in the Trump administration … for doing exactly
that.”
Trump has
however said in the past that he would like to maintain the limits set out in
the treaty after it expires. The agreement limits the US and Russia to
deploying no more than 1,550 warheads on 700 delivery vehicles – missiles,
bombers and submarines.
Under its
current terms, New Start cannot be extended – the treaty allowed one extension
and Putin and then president Joe Biden agreed to roll it over for five years in
2021.
Trump
told the Times that China, which has the world’s fastest-growing strategic
nuclear force, should be included in a treaty that replaces New Start.
5. Trump
at his most casual, candid and conspiratorial
The Times
reported that throughout the nearly two-hour interview Trump “tried on a full
range of the personas he has used for decades in public life”, describing him
as a “complainer”, a “father figure” and a “gracious host,” dispensing Diet
Cokes at the push of a button.
Transcripts
and clips of the interview released by the Times showed a president eager to
embrace the freedom he wields as a leader untethered from many of the
conventions that kept his predecessors in check.
He
candidly described his worldview, and when an aide emerged with a note
informing him that “Colombian President Gustavo Petro is calling for you,”
Trump put a “conspiratorial” finger to his lips to silence the group, and began
the call in full view of the journalists interviewing him.
Even when
taking questions on his health, a topic that in the past has angered the
president, Trump appeared calm, the Times said. When asked whether he had taken
weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Trump appeared to make joke, saying “I probably
should.”
With
Reuters
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