JANUARY 3, 2026 – President Donald J. Trump today announced the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, following a successful overnight joint U.S. military extraction in Venezuela’s capital of Caracas.
“Last night and early today, at my direction, the United States armed forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. … It was an operation against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro to justice,” Trump said during a midday news conference from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The president added that both Maduro and his also-captured wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro, will now face criminal court proceedings tied to a 2020 indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice on multiple federal charges, including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.
Earlier in the day, Trump posted a photo to social media showing a blindfolded and handcuffed Nicolás Maduro in custody aboard the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima.
Labeled Operation Absolute Resolve, the joint military and law enforcement mission to capture the Maduros was the result of months of planning and rehearsal involving U.S. joint forces — including special operations forces — from multiple service branches. The military also networked extensively with multiple U.S. intelligence agencies, according to Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Our interagency work began months ago and built on decades of experience [with] integrating complex air, ground, space and maritime operations. … We watched, we waited, we prepared, we remained patient and professional. … This was an audacious operation that only the United States could do,” Caine said during the press conference.
He added that the mission to extract the Maduros — in which there were no U.S. casualties — was so precise that it involved more than 150 military aircraft from all across the Western Hemisphere launching in close coordination to provide cover for the ground-based extraction force in Caracas.
“Words can barely capture the bravery and the power and the precision of this historic operation, a massive joint military and law enforcement raid flawlessly executed by the greatest Americans our country has to offer,” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who was also in attendance at Mar-a-Lago, told the media.
“What I witnessed last night was sheer guts and grit, gallantry and glory of the American warrior. … This is about the safety, security, freedom and prosperity of the American people. This is America first; this is peace through strength; and the United States War Department is proud to help deliver it,” Hegseth said of the mission.
With Maduro now out of power, Trump said the U.S. will oversee Venezuela until a safe transition to a legitimate replacement for the deposed strongman can be identified.
“We have a group of people running [Venezuela] until such a time it can be put back on track, make a lot of money for [Venezuelans] … give people a great way of life, and also [reimburse the] people in our country who were forced out of Venezuela,” Trump said.
The president added that, while it was his understanding that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was “just sworn in” [to the presidency] following Maduro’s ouster, Rodriguez seemed willing to work with the U.S. to achieve what’s best for Venezuelans.
“[Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio] is working on that directly. He just had a conversation with [Rodriguez], and she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.
The capture of the Maduros represents a culmination of tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela dating as far back as 1998, with the election of President Hugo Chavez, a Venezuelan socialist who espoused anti-U.S. rhetoric and formed close ties with Cuba, Iran and Russia.
Following the death of Chavez in 2013, Nicolás Maduro took over and became increasingly politically hostile toward the U.S. as the years progressed.
Tensions between the two countries increased significantly beginning in September of 2025, when the Trump administration began conducting targeted boat strikes on vessels deemed to be conducting narco-terrorism by attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the U.S.
In November 2025, the State Department declared Venezuela’s state-embedded criminal network Cartel de los Soles — which is alleged to have been headed by Maduro — as a terror organization.
Just prior to that designation, Hegseth said such an action would provide the War Department with “more tools” to provide options to Trump in regard to how to address the narco-terror threat in the region.
“We have a lot of options; we’ll make sure we have the authorities to do so, and we will protect the American people,” Hegseth said at the time.
By Matthew Olay
Pentagon News