Trump says he plans to visit Venezuela after establishing 'very good' relationship with interim leader

The comments come more than a month after Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was ousted by the US, following a series of air strikes.

Maduro and his wife were taken by forces during an overnight operation on Venezuelan soil and arrived in New York on Saturday evening, where they face prosecution for drug and weapons offences.

But speaking to reporters on Friday, Trump said: "I'm going to make a visit to Venezuela.

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"We have a very good relationship with the president of Venezuela," referring to the country's former vice president Delcy Rodriguez.

Trump said that the US is "working together very closely" with Rodriguez on access to oil.

"The relationship we have right now with Venezuela I would say is a ten."

He added: "The relationship is strong, the oil is coming out.

"We have our big oil companies going in, they’re going to be pumping out the oil and selling the oil for a lot of money."

However, US government officials in recent weeks made clear that the US does not recognise Rodriguez's interim administration as legitimate.

The country's Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, said Ms Rodriguez is the "interim president" working with the United States.

Speaking to CNN, Wright said the US will not "tell Delcy what her future role" is in potential future elections, calling that decision up to the Venezuelan people.

Trump had previously warned Ms Rodriguez with a fate worse than ousted leader Nicolas Maduro's "if she doesn't do what's right."

"If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro," Trump was quoted as saying in a telephone interview with The Atlantic.