U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump addresses reporters in response to the U.S. military action in Venezuela at the Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2026.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Wednesday pledged U.S. resources to earthquake-stricken Venezuela after back-to-back 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude tremors near the country’s northern coast, collapsing buildings in the capital Caracas and imposing a state of emergency.
“The United States is ready, willing and able to help,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday evening. The president called the Venezuelan people “new great friends,” adding that he had instructed all government agencies to prepare “to act quickly.”
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the same day that the United States is in contact with Venezuelan authorities to mobilize aid to the South American nation.
Jeremy Lewin, a senior State Department official, said the State Department has already mobilized disaster relief teams and task forces to provide and coordinate critical assistance to Venezuelans, including search and rescue teams, medical supplies and humanitarian resources.
The U.S. Geological Survey issued two consecutive emergency alerts through its PAGER system, estimating a 41% chance that the death toll would exceed 10,000 and a 17% chance that the death toll would reach 100,000. Officials also predicted that the devastating earthquake could reduce Venezuela’s GDP by up to 7%.
Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez declared a state of emergency in a national address on Wednesday night, and later announced that 32 people had been killed and 700 injured, according to Reuters.
Rescue workers and city police officers work at the site of a collapsed building after the earthquake in Caracas, June 24, 2026.
Manaure Quintero | AFP | Getty Images
This earthquake is one of the strongest to hit this country in the past 100 years. Venezuela is located in a seismically active zone where the Caribbean and South American plates meet.
The U.S.’s quick offer of assistance reflects a degree of diplomatic realignment between the Trump administration and Venezuela’s interim government, led by Rodríguez. The US government has controlled Venezuela’s oil exports following a military intervention in January that detained then-Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro.
The U.S. has been Venezuela’s biggest oil buyer since January, with estimated U.S.-controlled exports jumping from $600 million in January to $3.7 billion in April, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, with an estimated $8 billion moved through the deal with little transparency or oversight. The next most common countries are India and Spain.
