President Trump said that Venezuela has agreed to accept the country’s migrants living in the U.S. back as he lauded the return of six American hostages who were held in the Latin American country.
“It is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home and, very important to note, that Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” Trump wrote in a Saturday morning post on Truth Social. “Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back.”
Six hostages who were held in Venezuela were freed on Friday after the president’s envoy for special missions Richard Grenell visited the South American country. Grenell met with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, whose recent election victory the U.S. government has deemed “illegitimate.”
“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens. They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him,” Grenell wrote in a post on X.
Trump’s special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, told reporters on a call ahead of Grenell’s meeting with Maduro that the ex-acting director of national intelligence is demanding that Venezuela comply with the U.S. demands or face consequences.
Trump has consistently said on the campaign trail that his administration would carry out massive deportations of illegal immigrants from the U.S. Since taking office, he has signed several executive orders to crack down on illegal immigration and curb the flow of migrants crossing over the southern border.
Similarly to Venezuela, Colombia has agreed to take back its nationals living in the U.S. after a brief stand-off between the Latin American country’s President Gustavo Petro and the Trump administration.
Both sides threatened to impose tariffs last weekend but eventually reached a deal with Petro now urging Colombians to return home and offering to provide credits for them along the way.
“We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all Countries, and all Countries have agreed to accept these illegal aliens back,” Trump said on Saturday. “Furthermore, record numbers of criminals are being removed from our Country, and the Border numbers are the strongest they have been since the First Term of the Trump Administration!”
