U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the media following U.S. military action in Venezuela, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2026.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
President Donald Trump pledged on Wednesday to send US aid to earthquake-stricken Venezuela after successive earthquakes measuring 7.2 and 7.5 struck near the country’s northern coast, flattening buildings in the capital Caracas and prompting a state of emergency.
“The United States is ready, willing and able to help,” Trump said in a statement posted by Truth Social on Wednesday evening. The president added that he ordered all government agencies to prepare for “quick action,” calling the Venezuelan people “new and great friends.”
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said earlier in the day the US was in contact with Venezuelan authorities and had been collecting aid for the South American country.
The State Department has already assembled a disaster relief team and a task force to deliver and coordinate critical assistance to the people of Venezuela, including search and rescue teams, medical supplies, and human resources, according to senior State Department official Jeremy Lewin.
The US Geological Survey issued two consecutive red alerts through its PAGER system, and estimated a 41% chance that the death toll would exceed 10,000 and a 17% chance that it would reach 100,000. Authorities also predicted that a devastating earthquake could reduce Venezuela’s GDP by up to 7%.
Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, declared a state of emergency in a state of the nation address Wednesday night, and later said 32 people had died and 700 were injured, according to Reuters.
In a video message posted on X Thursday morning, Rodriguez thanked the Trump administration for offering “support and solidarity,” and the Dominican Republic for sending rescue teams to Venezuela.
China and Brazil have sent humanitarian aid to the country, he said, and the Qatari government has prepared a rescue team to arrive on Thursday.
Rescue workers and municipal police work at the site of a collapsed building following an earthquake in Caracas on June 24, 2026.
Manaure Quintero | Afp | Getty Images
These earthquakes are among the strongest that have occurred in the country in the last century. Venezuela lies on a seismically active zone where the Caribbean Plate meets the South American Plate.
The immediate US aid offering reflects the degree of rapprochement between the Trump administration and Venezuela’s interim government, led by Rodriguez. Washington has the ability to control oil exports to Venezuela after a military intervention in January that seized the country’s then-president, Nicolas Maduro.
The US has remained the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil since January, and the estimated value of US-controlled exports rose to $3.7 billion in April from $600 million in January, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, estimating that the flow of $8 billion passed through the system without transparency or oversight. India and Spain are the next biggest recipients.
