President Trump Cancels Second Strike After Venezuela Cooperates

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump said he had canceled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela, following cooperation from the South American country.

President Trump said on Friday that Venezuela was freeing a large number of political prisoners as a sign of "peace efforts," after last week's dramatic US military operation that resulted in the arrest of President Nicolas Maduro.

"This is a very important and intelligent signal. The US and Venezuela are working well together, especially in terms of rebuilding, in a much larger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure," President Trump said on Truth Social, as reported by Al Arabiya from Reuters (9/1).

"Because of this cooperation, I have canceled the second Wave of Attack that was previously planned, which apparently will not be necessary, however, all ships will remain in their place for the purpose of safety and security," the Republican politician added in his post.

President Trump's comments came hours after he indicated in an interview on Fox News' "Hannity" program that Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado would come to Washington next week, having previously rejected the idea of working with him, saying "he has no support or respect at home."

Earlier, President Trump told the New York Times on Wednesday that the United States "has a very good relationship" with the Venezuelan government, led by interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

During the interview with Fox, President Trump also said he would meet with oil company executives at the White House on Friday and oil companies would spend at least $100 billion in Venezuela, which he repeated in a post on his Truth Social.