Just over two weeks ago, the U.S. invaded Venezuela, abducted Nicolás Maduro and his wife (and threw them in a Brooklyn jail), and President Donald Trump said a bunch of wild stuff — including announcing that the U.S. was going to run the country and take its oil. A week ago, he shared a fake Wikipedia page on social media which said he was the “acting president of Venezuela.” He’s not; interim president Delcy Rodríguez is, but so far it seems Trump is getting much of what he said he wanted. Below is a look at how Trump’s big intervention is playing out thus far.

No. But he’s clearly wielding a lot of leverage on its new leader.

Since the U.S. ousted Maduro, the former vice president has been working to meet the Trump administration’s demands — while at times publicly denouncing what the U.S. has done — and all the while working to consolidate her control over the regime and country. Per Bloomberg:

[Rodríguez] has seamlessly moved into the role of acting president. She has chaired meetings with senior officials, greeted international envoys, welcomed the press at Miraflores Palace and met privately with diplomats. But beneath the continuity, the bedrock of Chavismo — Venezuela’s brand of socialism — is beginning to shift as Rodríguez quickly moves to consolidate authority and unite the fractured ruling coalition. There are some subtle changes. Rodríguez’s days start earlier, her public remarks are far more concise and the marathon speeches that defined Maduro’s rule are gone. Public officials are now allowed back on X.

Other moves are far more consequential, including a reshaping of the cabinet and security apparatus and the release of dozens of political prisoners. Decisions on senior personnel are being received positively by the Trump administration, according to one person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named discussing sensitive deliberations.

Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have repeatedly said that Rodríguez has been doing what the administration tells her. Trump has called her a “terrific person” and last week told Reuters that she “has been very good to deal with.” He also said that he thinks she’s “eventually” going to come to the White House, and that “I’ll go to their country too.”

In her state of the union speech Thursday, Rodríguez called for opening the country’s oil sector to foreign investment.

The regime has also moved to reopen the U.S. embassy in Caracas and has already hosted a U.S. delegation. At the same time, Rodríguez and other regime officials have been trying to have it all ways, signaling willing partnership and shared opportunity with Trump and the U.S., while also insisting they are just as anti-imperialist as they ever were.

On Thursday, Rodríguez met in Caracas with CIA director John Ratcliffe, the most senior Trump administration official to visit the country since the invasion. His high-profile visit was reportedly intended to further signal the administration’s support for Rodríguez as the country’s interim leader. (Ahead of the Maduro operation, a CIA assessment indicated that Rodríguez would be the best choice to take........

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