Following early morning attacks on Venezuela’s capital city, it appears the President, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife have been captured by US forces and flown out of the country.
Tweeting an hour ago, US President Donald Trump said:
‘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. This operation was done in conjunction with US Law Enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a news conference today at 11 am at Mar-a-Lago. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’
STATEMENT FROM PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP pic.twitter.com/nHDqtsqRFh
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) January 3, 2026
The message was reblogged by the official White House account and Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.
Explosions were seen in Venezuela which began at around 2 am local time with targets alleged to be military in nature. US helicopters were filmed flying over the city.
Earlier, President Trump was quoted saying that Maduro ‘doesn’t want to f- around with the United States’.
The Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, has confirmed that their government has no idea where President Maduro is at this point in time. They are demanding a proof of life from the US.
In a conversation with the New York Times, Trump is reported as saying the capture of Maduro was ‘a brilliant operation’.
‘A lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and great people. It was a brilliant operation.’
US Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, called this, ‘A new dawn for Venezuela!’ He added, ‘The tyrant is gone. He will now – finally – face justice.’
The US has accused Venezuela of conducting a sustained campaign of narco-terrorism and has been engaged in a military confrontation with alleged drug traffickers, killing 110 suspected criminals.
In response, President Maduro was filmed in a car calling himself the victim of Colombian drug cartels.
This is in response to the US accusing Maduro of conspiring with Colombian traffickers to allegedly flood the US with cocaine. Maduro denied all accusations. In addition, the US has refused to acknowledge Maduro as the legitimate President following the 2024 election.
While it seems very unlikely that the US intends to ‘steal resources’, many are wondering if this move will result in the opposition taking power.
Venezuela released an official statement:
‘The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects, condemns, and denounces before the international community the extremely grave military aggression carried out by the current government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory and population, targeting civilian and military locations in the city of Caracas, the capital of the Republic, and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. The objective of this attack is none other than to seize Venezuela’s strategic resources, particularly its oil and minerals, in an attempt to forcibly break the nation’s political independence. They will not succeed.’
The Defence Minister added, ‘They’ve attacked us, but they will not subdue us.’
The BBC are calling it ‘an event without modern precedent’ saying ‘the closest comparison would be the capture of Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega’ which took place in 1989.
