President Donald Trump stated the U.S. “efficiently carried out a big scale strike in opposition to Venezuela” and stated Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his spouse have been “captured and flown out of the Nation.”
The announcement on Trump’s social media platform got here shortly earlier than 4:30 a.m. Saturday a number of hours after a number of explosions have been heard in Venezuela’s capital metropolis of Caracas, witnesses stated, and images and movies confirmed plumes of smoke and a big fireball within the evening sky.
FILE PHOTO: Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro waves whereas holding the hand of his spouse Cilia Flores throughout a ceremony to swear in new community-based organisations, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up stress on Maduro’s authorities, in Caracas, Venezuela, December 1, 2025.
Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters
Trump stated the operation was carried out together with U.S. legislation enforcement and stated he would maintain a information convention at 11 a.m. from Mar-a-Lago.
The operation that led to Maduro’s seize was carried out by the Military’s Delta Power after the CIA had recognized the chief’s exact location, in keeping with two individuals acquainted with the operation. Delta Power is an elite particular operations group of troopers educated in secret counterterrorism operations and hostage rescues.
One particular person advised ABC Information that Trump had given the inexperienced gentle to seize Maduro a number of days in the past and troops have been able to strike on Christmas Day, however have been delayed on account of army airstrikes in Nigeria in opposition to ISIS. Subsequent alternatives have been postponed partly on account of climate, the particular person stated.
CBS first reported the small print on the operation.
In a short telephone interview with The New York Occasions, President Trump celebrated the success of the mission to seize Maduro, who the U.S. has thought-about the top of a overseas terrorist group since a November designation.
“A variety of good planning and lot of nice, nice troops and nice individuals,” Trump advised The New York Occasions. “It was a superb operation, truly.”
When requested whether or not he had sought congressional authorization for the operation or what would come subsequent for Venezuela, Trump stated he would deal with these issues throughout his information convention at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday morning.
‘No additional motion’ anticipated
Republican Sen. Mike Lee, of Utah, stated in a submit on X that he spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the telephone in regards to the actions being taken in Venezuela after initially asking “what, if something, may constitutionally justify this motion within the absence of a declaration of warfare or authorization for the usage of army pressure.”
Based on Lee, Rubio stated that Maduro had been “arrested by U.S. personnel to face trial on legal expenses in the USA,” and that the “kinetic motion” was taken to guard these executing the warrant.
He additionally stated that Rubio advised him he anticipates “no additional motion in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody.”
“This was an extremely harmful operation to conduct,” stated ABC Contributor Mick Mulroy, a former CIA officer and senior Pentagon official. “It required exact intelligence, detailed planning and flawless execution by these Delta operators and all of the help, particularly the [Joint Special Operations Command] air part, to drag it off within the method that they did.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego, of Arizona, blasted Trump’s transfer, calling it the “second unjustified warfare in my life time” in a submit on X. “This warfare is unlawful, it’s embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in lower than one 12 months. There isn’t a motive for us to be at warfare with Venezuela.”
The newest occasions come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela together with a build-up of U.S. army forces within the Caribbean and the concentrating on of alleged drug-smuggling boats.
Some 15,000 U.S. army personnel have been within the space in addition to the united statesGerald Ford plane service.
The operation additionally comes a short while after the first-known land strike carried out in opposition to a dock the place Trump stated medicine have been being loaded onto boats.
Evening view of Caracas taken after a collection of explosions heard on January 3, 2026. Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling plane flyovers, have been heard in Caracas round 2:00 am (0600 GMT) on January 3, an AFP journalist reported. The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a navy activity pressure to the Caribbean, raised the opportunity of floor strikes in opposition to Venezuela.
Federico Parra/AFP through Getty Photos
Worldwide response
The Venezuelan authorities issued an announcement condemning what it referred to as “the grave army aggression perpetrated by the present authorities of the USA of America” in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
(FILES) (COMBO) This mix of images created on August 07, 2025 exhibits US President Donald Trump (L) in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2025, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) in Caracas on July 31, 2024.
Jim Watson,federico Parra/AFP through Getty Photos
As well as, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the implementation of nationwide protection plans, and declared a “state of Exterior Disturbance all through the nationwide territory,” in keeping with the assertion.
Russia condemned the motion as “an act of armed aggression in opposition to Venezuela” and stated it needed to forestall “additional escalation,” in keeping with the nation’s International Ministry. And Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated “Alert the world: Venezuela has been attacked!” in a submit on X. However Trump ally and Argentinian president Javier Milei praised the transfer.
The U.S. has lengthy thought-about Maduro the top of a corrupt dictatorial regime. In 2024, Maduro declared victory after a extensively disputed presidential election for a 3rd time period.
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro arrives together with his spouse Cilia Flores to ship his annual speech to parliament in Caracas on January 15, 2025. President Donald Trump stated on January 3, 2026, that US forces had captured Venezuelan chief Nicolas Maduro after launching a “massive scale strike” on the South American nation.
Federico Parra/AFP through Getty Photos
Maduro lately declared head of terror group
In an unprecedented transfer in November, the Trump administration declared Maduro the top of a overseas terrorist group, citing alleged hyperlinks to drug cartels, which Maduro denied.
The designation put the Venezuelan chief on the identical record as terror networks like al-Qaeda and the Houthi insurgent group in Yemen. In August, Rubio introduced the U.S. had elevated the reward for info resulting in Maduro’s arrest from $25 million to $50 million.
Maduro has confronted expenses in the USA of narcotics-terrorism since 2020, when federal prosecutors in New York accused him of partnering with a Colombian insurgent group to “flood the USA with cocaine with a view to undermine the well being and wellbeing” of the nation.
Image of fireside at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest army complicated, after a collection of explosions in Caracas on January 3, 2026. Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling plane flyovers, have been heard in Caracas round 2:00 am (0600 GMT) on January 3, an AFP journalist reported. The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a navy activity pressure to the Caribbean, raised the opportunity of floor strikes in opposition to Venezuela.
Luis Jaimes/AFP through Getty Photos
The fees embrace narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons possession conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that Maduro and 14 present or former officers ran an unlimited legal enterprise for the final 20 years, utilizing state assets to gas the worldwide drug commerce, together with within the U.S.
It is a creating story. Please verify again for updates.
