US conducted strike on Venezuela, captured Maduro, Trump says
- Jan 3
- 3 min read
What details did Trump provide about the Venezuela strike?
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WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump said no American forces appear to have been killed and no aircraft was lost during an overnight strike on Venezuela, in which the U.S. seized the country's leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife and bombed targets in the capital city of Caracas and elsewhere.
Trump said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were in a "highly-guarded" compound that was "like a fortress" when they captured by the U.S. military and forcibly removed from the country. They were flown by helicopter to the Iwo Jima, a U.S. warship, and are on their way to New York, where the deposed Venezuelan leader and Flores will be prosecuted for alleged drug crimes.
"They're on a ship, but they'll be heading into New York. The helicopters took them out. A nice flight, I'm sure they loved it. They've killed a lot of people," Trump said during a phone interview with Fox & Friends "Even people in their own country, they killed a lot of people to maintain power. He's a very vicious person."
The assault came after months of U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean that have killed at least 115 people, the seizure of two oil tankers off of Venezuela's coast and repeated warnings from the president that land strikes on the Latin American country were on their way.
Trump confirmed early on Jan. 3 that the U.S. had was behind a strike on Venezuela, several hours after explosions shook Caracas.
"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 U.S. Law Enforcement," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump said later in the morning, on Fox News, that the U.S. intended to strike earlier in the week but cloudy weather delayed the covert operation.
"We were going to do this four days ago, but the weather was not perfect; the weather has to be perfect," Trump said.
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One helicopter was hit hard during the operation, Trump added, but the U.S. was able to recover the aircraft.
"I think we had nobody killed," Trump said. "A couple of guys were hit, but they came back, and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape."
The U.S. president said he would be providing additional details at a news conference at 11 am ET at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Trump spent the holidays at his private resort in Palm Beach and was scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday, Jan. 4.
Venezuela's government had alleged that the U.S. was behind the military operation, which came days after Trump acknowledged that the U.S. had conducted a covert strike against a dock facility in the country. Trump's statement was the first public confirmation from the U.S. that it had carried out the strike.
The military operation followed a months-long military buildup in the Caribbean by the Trump administration, as well as a series of attacks on alleged drug boats and the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers.
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