US military fighter jets sit on the tarmac at José Aponte de la Torre Airport, formerly Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, on January 3, 2026. President Donald Trump said Saturday that US forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro after launching a “large scale strike” on the South American country. “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” Trump said on Truth Social.
Hours after explosions rocked Caracas— part of a US large‑scale strike inside Venezuela — Donald Trump told reporters at his Mar‑a‑Lago estate that Washington would run Venezuela until a “safe, proper and judicious” transition could take place. Trump said the severity of the assault, which saw Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife captured and flown out of the country, was one last seen during World War II. “This was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and confidence in American history,” Trump told the press on Saturday.
“We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela.” Venezuelan authorities called the attack, carried out by the US Army’s elite Delta Force on Friday night, an “imperialist assault”, declared a state of emergency, and urged citizens to take to the streets to defend their nation. Governments around the world responded one after the other, including strong condemnation from Pretoria. The air, land and sea operation comes after months of US accusations that Maduro’s government is linked to drug cartels — including the Cartel de los Soles and Tren de Aragua — and responsible for sending cocaine and fentanyl into the Land of the Free.
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It also follows months of US military buildup in the region, including the deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, along with several other warships in the Caribbean. In recent weeks, the US has seized two oil tankers, attacked more than 30 boats carrying drugs, and struck what Trump described as “the dock area where they load the boats with drugs”. Trump, during his press briefing, said Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York.
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