Hearth at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest army complicated, is seen from a distance after a collection of explosions in Caracas on Jan. 3, 2026.
Str | Afp | Getty Photos
U.S. President Donald Trump stated Saturday the USA performed a large-scale strike in Venezuela that resulted within the seize and removing of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Maduro and his spouse, Cilia Flores, have been captured and faraway from the nation following the operation, which was performed in coordination with U.S. regulation enforcement authorities, Trump stated in an early morning put up on Fact Social.
“The US of America has efficiently carried out a big scale strike towards Venezuela and its chief, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, alongside along with his spouse, captured and flown out of the Nation. This operation was executed along with U.S. Regulation Enforcement,” Trump stated.
No additional particulars have been offered.
CBS Information reported that the U.S. Military’s elite Delta Drive unit was concerned within the seize of Maduro.
The Pentagon declined to reply CNBC’s queries and referred inquiries to the White Home.
Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who had earlier questioned whether or not the U.S. assault was constitutional, stated in a X put up on Saturday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio instructed him the U.S. operation “was deployed to guard and defend these executing the arrest warrant.”
“This motion seemingly falls inside the president’s inherent authority underneath Article II of the Structure to guard U.S. personnel from an precise or imminent assault,” Lee added.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau stated in a put up on X that Maduro would “lastly face justice for his crimes.”
There was no rapid affirmation from the Venezuelan authorities.
Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s vp, demanded that the U.S. present proof that Maduro and his spouse are alive, in an interview on state tv station Venezolana de Televisión.
Maduro’s official Fb web page posted a video stating that assaults occurred within the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, in line with a Google translation of the Spanish-language assertion.
The assertion within the video added that the U.S. would fail in its aim of possessing Venezuela’s oil and minerals, and that Maduro had declared a nationwide emergency and mobilized protection forces.
The official spokesperson for Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who leads the Venezuelan opposition, stated in a put up on X that it had no touch upon the operation.
Trump instructed The New York Occasions that the operation was a results of “a number of good planning.”
“It was an excellent operation, really,” Trump instructed the Occasions.
Explosions have been reported within the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, at about 2 a.m. native time (0600 GMT), in line with photographs circulating on social media that would not be independently verified.
The Russian Overseas Ministry condemned the U.S. operation, saying that “the pretexts used to justify such actions are untenable.”
“We assist the assertion by the Venezuelan authorities and the management of Latin American international locations on the pressing convening of a gathering of the UN Safety Council,” the assertion stated.
Trump has repeatedly threatened motion towards Maduro. On Dec. 23, 2025, he stated it might be “good” for Maduro to depart energy.
Trump final month introduced a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers transferring out and in of Venezuelan waters, saying the nation was “utterly surrounded by the most important Armada ever assembled within the Historical past of South America.”
The technique to strain Maduro comes because the U.S. and Venezuela’s opposition say Maduro rigged an election final yr to remain in energy. Trump has additionally accused Maduro of working a “narco-state.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated in a put up on X that Caracas was underneath assault and urged an emergency assembly of the Group of American States and the United Nations.
Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chavez in 2013, has stated Washington is looking for management of its oil reserves, the most important on this planet.
That is breaking information. Please refresh for updates.
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