US President Donald Trump speaks throughout a kickoff celebration for the Nice American State Truthful on the Nationwide Mall in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.
Bonnie Money | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
President Donald Trump pledged Wednesday to deploy U.S. sources to earthquake-stricken Venezuela after back-to-back tremors of magnitude 7.2 and seven.5 struck close to the nation’s northern coast, flattening buildings within the capital Caracas and prompting a state of emergency.
“The U.S. stands prepared, prepared, and capable of assist,” Trump mentioned in a Fact Social publish Wednesday night stateside. The president added that he had instructed all authorities businesses to organize to “transfer shortly,” calling Venezuela’s individuals the “new and nice buddies.”
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau mentioned earlier within the day that the U.S. was in contact with Venezuelan authorities and has been mobilizing help for the South American nation.
Venezuela’s performing president Delcy Rodriguez declared a state of emergency in a nationwide tackle on Wednesday night time, and later mentioned at the least 164 individuals had been killed and 971 had been injured, in keeping with Reuters.
The State Division has already mobilized a catastrophe help workforce and activity drive to ship and coordinate crucial help to Venezuelans, together with search and rescue groups, medical provides, and humanitarian sources, in keeping with senior State Division official Jeremy Lewin.
The U.S. Geological Survey issued two consecutive pink alerts via its PAGER system, and estimated a 41% likelihood that fatalities may exceed 10,000 and a 17% probability they might attain 100,000. The authority additionally projected that the devastating earthquake may dent Venezuela’s GDP by as much as 7%.
In a video message posted on X Thursday morning, Rodriguez thanked the Trump administration for offering “assist and solidarity,” and the Dominican Republic for sending rescue groups to Venezuela.
China and Brazil have despatched humanitarian support to the nation, she mentioned, and the Qatar authorities has ready a rescue brigade set to reach Thursday.
Rescue staff and municipal cops work on the web site of a collapsed constructing following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026.
Manaure Quintero | Afp | Getty Pictures
The quakes are among the many strongest to strike the nation previously century. Venezuela lies in a seismically lively zone the place the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate.
The swift U.S. provide of help displays a level of diplomatic realignment between the Trump administration and the Venezuelan interim authorities, led by Rodriguez.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned Thursday that the Warfare Division would play a logistical function within the catastrophe help because the earthquakes broken Caracas’ airport. “It will be massive, it’s going to be quick, and it will be efficient,” Rubio mentioned in regards to the U.S. authorities response to the catastrophe.
He additionally mentioned that it’s a “setback” to the stabilization efforts in Venezuela, following the January navy intervention that seized the nation’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro. Washington has exerted management over Venezuela’s oil exports since then.
The U.S. has remained Venezuela’s largest oil purchaser since January, with the estimated worth of US-controlled exports surging to $3.7 billion in April from $600 million in January, in keeping with the Council on International Relations, estimating $8 billion in flows have moved via the association with little transparency or oversight. India and Spain are the following largest recipients.
