President Donald Trump has warned Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez to align with U.S. occupation of the Latin American country or face a worse fate than Nicolás Maduro jailed in New York and awaiting trial for narco-trafficking charges.

“If she doesn’t do what’s right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro,” Mr Trump said in an interview with The Atlantic on Sunday.

Mr Trump’s remarks contrasted his position on Saturday that Ms Rodríguez was willing to work with the Washington towards what he called a judicious transition.

Ms Rodriguez insisted Mr Maduro was Venezuela’s legitimate leader and that the rest of his administration was “ready to defend our natural resources.”

Mr Trump did not take kindly to the words as he threatened to bear down on Ms Rodriguez and others who may want to prove a stumbling block to his ambition to “run” Venezuela and sell its oil assets. 

Speaking on Sunday, Mr Trump also renewed his call for America’s control of Greenland, the autonomous Danish territory, arguing that its strategic location had become critical, asserting it was “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.”

“We do need Greenland, absolutely. We need it for defence,” Mr Trump told the newspaper.

The Republican president again branded Venezuela a “totally failed country.”

“Rebuilding is not a bad thing in Venezuela’s case. The country’s gone to hell. It’s a failed country. It’s a totally failed country. It’s a country that’s a disaster in every way,” he said.