In early April 2026, a claim circulated online that U.S. President Donald Trump said, "After I'm finished with this, I can go to Venezuela — I will quickly learn Spanish, it won't take too long, I'm good at language — and I will go to Venezuela, I'm going to run for president.
One X post (archived) shared a clip that appeared to show Trump speaking the quote in question.
Trump's purported words circulated on Facebook (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived), Reddit (archived) and Bluesky (archived). Snopes readers also contacted us about the alleged statement.
The video circulating in which Trump said he could learn Spanish and run for president in Venezuela was authentic, meaning it genuinely showed Trump spoke the claimed quote. It was available to watch in a White House livestream (archived) of Trump's April 6 news conference.
Therefore, we find online claims correctly attributed the quote to Trump.
It was unclear whether Trump was speaking in jest. We contacted the White House to ask about this and await a reply.
In the White House video, Trump said (at 1:21:14):
I'm polling higher than anybody has ever polled in Venezuela. So, after I'm finished with this [the Iran war] I can go to Venezuela — I will quickly learn Spanish, it won't take too long, I'm good at language — and I will go to Venezuela, I'm going to run for president. But we're very happy with the president-elect [acting President Delcy Rodríguez] that we have right now.
According to Venezuela's constitution, presidential candidates must be Venezuelan by birth and not hold another nationality — meaning that even if Trump did learn Spanish he would still not be eligible to lead the Latin American nation.
The U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in early January 2026. The Trump administration has since lifted sanctions on Delcy Rodriguez, the leader of the interim government, who previously served as Maduro's deputy. Trump has praised Rodriguez on Truth Social, writing that she "is doing a great job, and working with U.S. Representatives very well."
DeepL.com provided translations from Spanish to English.