In a dramatic late-night military raid, United States forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, with President Donald Trump announcing the unprecedented action and declaring the U.S. will now “run” the South American nation to facilitate a political transition and reclaim stolen oil assets.
President Trump, in a January 3 press conference, confirmed that at his direction, U.S. armed forces conducted an “extraordinary military operation” in Caracas, resulting in the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
The Mission: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Raisen Kaine detailed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” a complex mission involving over 150 aircraft and a joint force that apprehended the couple at their compound in the early hours of January 2. He stated the operation resulted in “no loss of US life,” though one aircraft was struck by fire.
Current Status: The pair, indicted in the U.S. Southern District of New York on narcoterrorism charges, are in U.S. custody aboard a naval vessel. “They’ll be heading to ultimately New York,” President Trump said.
Justification: Officials framed the intervention as a necessary action against a criminal regime. President Trump accused Maduro of being the “kingpin of a vast criminal network” flooding the U.S. with drugs, causing “the deaths of countless Americans.” He also cited the “largest theft of American property in history”—the seizure of U.S. oil infrastructure—as a primary motive, adding, “we never had a president that did anything about it.”
The most significant announcement was the declared intention for the United States to directly oversee Venezuela’s governance.
“We’re Going to Run the Country”: President Trump stated the U.S. would administer Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.” He explicitly ruled out an immediate handover to the existing vice president or other domestic political figures, claiming “there is nobody to take over.”
Oil-Centered Reconstruction: The stated plan hinges on rebuilding Venezuela’s oil sector. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” Trump said, framing it as a venture that would “make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe” while reimbursing the U.S.
Military Posture Remains: Both Trump and General Kaine emphasized that U.S. forces “remain in the region at a high state of readiness,” with the President noting, “we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so.”
Senior officials used the event to issue stark warnings to other nations and articulate a new foreign policy doctrine.
A Warning to Adversaries: “What happened to Maduro can happen to them,” Trump said of other Venezuelan officials. Secretary of War Pete Hexath was more sweeping: “America can project our will anywhere, any time… our adversaries remain on notice.”
Direct Threats to Neighbors: When asked about Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Trump replied, “He has cocaine mills… he does have to watch his ass.” On Cuba, Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused its “incompetent” government of trying to “colonize” Venezuela and suggested its leaders “would be concerned.”
The “Trump Doctrine”: The President positioned the action as an enforcement of a new, aggressive regional policy. “The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal but we’ve superseded it by a lot,” he stated, framing it as a reassertion that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
The operation follows years of escalating tensions. The U.S. has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president since 2019, recognizing opposition leader Juan Guaidó instead. Maduro and his wife were indicted in New York in 2020 on drug trafficking and terrorism charges. The Trump administration has consistently cited Venezuela, alongside Cuba and Nicaragua, as part of a “troika of tyranny” destabilizing the hemisphere.#
The immediate international reaction is pending, but the move is certain to provoke severe condemnation from nations like Russia, China, and Iran, which have supported Maduro’s government, and may trigger emergency meetings at the United Nations and Organization of American States.
