Trump orders immediate relaunch of commercial flights to Venezuela

President Donald Trump ordered Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to launch commercial flights to Venezuela “by the end of” Thursday.

The president‘s comments came during a televised cabinet meeting at the White House — the first such huddle of 2026. Trump told the press at the top of the meeting that he had just “informed” Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez “that we’re going to be opening up all commercial airspace over Venezuela.”

“American citizens will be, very shortly, able to go to Venezuela, and they’ll be safe there,” he said. “They’ll be safe. It’s under very strong control.”

The president then turned to Duffy and ordered him, “and everybody else concerned, including the military” to accomplish the task “by the end of today.”

Earlier this year, ahead