US captures Maduro, wife in military strike on Venezuela

The U.S. military carried out a “large scale strike” against Venezuela overnight Friday and captured President Nicolás Maduro along with his wife, Cilia Flores, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social.

Maduro and his spouse were flown out of the Latin American country, Trump added.

Speaking to the press at Mar-a-Lago, Fla., on Saturday, the American leader said that the U.S. “will run [Venezuela] until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition [of power]. We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.”

He warned that the American military was prepared to carry out a second and “much larger” attack if necessary. “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” Trump continued, as U.S. forces had “boots on the ground last night at a very high level.”

He added that Washington was “designating people right now” to run Venezuela, and “we’re going to let you know who those people are.”

Trump said that an American partnership with the Latin American country will make Venezuelans “rich, independent and safe. … They’re not going to suffer any more.”

He added that the U.S. will be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry. “We have the greatest oil companies in the world—the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it.”

Speaking with FOX News Channel’s “FOX & Friends Weekend” earlier on Saturday, Trump hailed the forces that executed the operation, saying that they “did an incredible job. They rehearsed and practiced like nobody has ever seen. And I was told by real military people that there’s no other country on earth that can do such a maneuver. If you would’ve seen what happened, I mean I watched it literally like I was watching a television show. And if you would’ve seen the speed, the violence … it was an amazing thing.”

U.S. Vice President JD Vance elaborated on the rationale for the operation.

“The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States,” Vance wrote on X, referring either or both to American oil companies that were nationalized in 1976 under the presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez, and President Hugo Chávez seizing oil fields belonging to U.S. firms such as ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips in 2007.

“Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says. Kudos to our brave special operators who pulled off a truly impressive operation,” the vice president said.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that Maduro and his wife have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. The South American dictator is charged with “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States,” she added.

U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) tweeted on Saturday that he had spoken by phone with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who “informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant.

“This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack,” Lee said.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez told his country’s state-run broadcaster VTV that the government did not know the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife, CNN reported.

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yván Gil shared a letter on Telegram that his country delivered to the United Nations, requesting an urgent meeting of the Security Council following the attack, the report continued.

“No cowardly attack will prevail against the strength of this people, who will emerge victorious,” Gil was cited as saying along with the letter.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar commended the U.S. operation “led by President Trump, [who] acted as the leader of the free world.”

Sa’ar emphasized that “Israel stands alongside the freedom-loving Venezuelan people, who have suffered under Maduro’s illegal tyranny. Israel welcomes the removal of the dictator who led a network of drugs and terror, and hopes for the return of democracy to the country and for friendly relations between the states.

“The people of Venezuela deserve to exercise their democratic rights. South America deserves a future free from the axis of terror and drugs,” Sa’ar said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel tweeted: “The United States is Israel’s strongest ally. We support America’s right to defend itself and enforce its laws. Maduro led a terrorist regime, propped up by Iran, using Venezuela as a platform for Hezbollah’s drug trafficking, money-laundering and terror networks.”

Israeli opposition Leader Yair Lapid took to X on Saturday to send a warning message to Tehran: “The regime in Iran should pay close attention to what is happening in Venezuela.”