US captures Maduro, carries out ‘large scale strike’ in Venezuela: Trump
Watch President Trump's news conference below:
President Donald Trump said the U.S. "successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela" and said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were "captured and flown out of the country."
The announcement on Trump’s social media platform came shortly before 4:30 a.m. Saturday, a few hours after several explosions were heard in Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas, witnesses said, and photos and videos showed plumes of smoke and a large fireball in the night sky.
Trump said the operation was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement and said he would hold a news conference at 11 a.m. from Mar-a-Lago.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, "will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts" on a slew of charges in New York, including "narco-terrorism conspiracy" and "cocaine importation conspiracy" as well as weapons charges. Maduro has faced the charges in New York for years.
Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News Maduro was being flown to New York. While the sources did not specify where Maduro will be held, defendants awaiting trial in federal court in Manhattan are customarily held at MDC-Brooklyn.
The operation that led to Maduro's capture was carried out by the Army’s Delta Force after the CIA had identified the leader's precise location, according to two people familiar with the operation. Delta Force is an elite special operations group of soldiers trained in secret counterterrorism operations and hostage rescues.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, President Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture Maduro.
“A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump told The New York Times. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
When asked whether he had sought congressional authorization for the operation or what would come next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those matters during his news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday morning.
The latest events come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela, including a build-up of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean and the targeting of alleged drug-smuggling boats.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued an alert prohibiting U.S. civil aircraft from flying over Venezuela “due to safety-of-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity,” according to the FAA.
The Venezuelan government issued a statement condemning what it called "the grave military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America" in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira.
In addition, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the implementation of national defense plans and declared a "state of External Disturbance throughout the national territory," according to the statement.
The U.S. has long considered Maduro the head of a corrupt dictatorial regime. In 2024, Maduro declared victory after a widely disputed presidential election for a third term.
In an unprecedented move in November, the Trump administration declared Maduro the head of a foreign terrorist organization, citing alleged links to drug cartels, which Maduro denied. The designation put the Venezuelan leader on the same list as terror networks like al-Qaida and the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.
In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the U.S. had increased the reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest from $25 million to $50 million.
Maduro has faced charges in the United States of narcotics-terrorism since 2020, when federal prosecutors in New York accused him of partnering with a Colombian rebel group to “flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing” of the nation.
The charges include narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons possession conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that Maduro and 14 current or former officials ran a vast criminal enterprise for the last 20 years, using state resources to fuel the international drug trade, including in the U.S.
Republican Senator Mike Lee posted on X early Saturday morning saying that he spoke with Rubio over the phone about the actions being taken in Venezuela. According to Lee, Rubio said that Maduro had been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action was taken to protect those executing the warrant.
He also said that Rubio told him he anticipates "no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
