President Donald Trump said today that the United States will temporarily assume control of Venezuela after U.S. forces carried out a sweeping military operation that bombed sites across the country and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, flying them to the United States to face criminal charges.
Speaking at a press conference in Florida, Trump said Washington would oversee Venezuela during a transition period, arguing that immediate control was necessary to prevent another disastrous outcome.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition” to new leadership, Trump said, adding that officials would be appointed to manage the process, though he did not specify who they would be.
Trump said the U.S. could not risk allowing a successor to emerge who would perpetuate the same conditions that existed under Maduro.
“We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind,” Trump said.
The president warned that additional military action remained an option if conditions on the ground required it.
“We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so. So we were prepared to do a second wave if we need to do so,” he said.
Asked whether U.S. control of Venezuela could involve American troops on the ground, Trump was blunt.
“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” he said, adding, “We don’t mind saying it, but we’re going to make sure that that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain.”
Trump confirmed that Maduro and his wife were headed to New York, where the Venezuelan leader has been indicted. Maduro arrived in New York this afternoon and could appear in court as early as Monday.
Trump said Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez “was sworn in as president just a little while ago” and had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in what he described as a “gracious” conversation. Hours later, however, Rodriguez appeared on state television demanding Maduro’s release.
“We demand the immediate liberation of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores,” she said, calling Maduro “the only president of Venezuela.”
The remarks were delivered at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where he was joined by senior advisers including Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
U.S. officials said the operation had been in preparation for months and unfolded over several hours. The administration described it as part of a broader campaign to halt narcotics flowing into the United States, coming just weeks before the first anniversary of Trump’s second inauguration.
Two U.S. officials familiar with the planning told NBC News today that Trump approved the military and law enforcement actions more than a week ago.
Caine said military forces waited days for favorable weather conditions before executing the mission.
“Weather in Venezuela is always a factor this time of the year, and over the weeks through Christmas and New Year’s, the men and women of the United States military sat ready, patiently waiting for the right triggers to be met and the president to order us into action,” Caine told reporters.
“Last night, the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only the most skilled aviators in the world could maneuver through,” he added.
Caine said Trump gave the final order at 10:46 p.m. ET Friday night. U.S. forces reached Maduro’s compound by 1:01 a.m. ET today and were back over open water with Maduro and his wife by 3:29 a.m.
Trump said he watched the mission live from Mar-a-Lago and described Maduro’s attempt to reach a reinforced safe room as U.S. forces closed in.
“He was trying to get to a safe place, which wasn’t safe, because we would have had the door blown up in about 47 — I think, 47 seconds,” Trump said. “It was a very thick door, a very heavy door, but he was unable to get to that door. He made it to the door. He was unable to close it.”
Caine said multiple types of aircraft and remotely piloted drones were used to protect helicopters and personnel during the operation. He said U.S. helicopters came under fire and American forces “replied to that fire with overwhelming force in self-defense.”
One U.S. aircraft was damaged but remained airworthy, Caine said. Later today, one U.S. official and one White House official told NBC News that several American troops were injured during the operation, all of whom are in stable condition.
Vice President JD Vance participated in the planning, according to a spokesperson.
“The vice president joined several late night meetings via secure video conference with National Security principals leading up to the operation,” the spokesperson said.
The strike marked the climax of months of escalating rhetoric and pressure from Trump and his administration toward Maduro. Conducted without congressional authorization, the operation immediately sparked sharp reactions on Capitol Hill. Trump said U.S. oil companies were ready to move into Venezuela.
“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” he said.
Trump argued that managing Venezuela would not cost the U.S. taxpayer.
“It won’t cost us anything, because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial,” he said.
He later added, “We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela, and it goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country.”
Rodriguez accused Washington of pursuing regime change solely to seize Venezuela’s resources.
The U.S. “only had one objective: regime change in Venezuela. And that this regime change allows them to capture our energy resources, mineral resources and natural resources,” she said.
Minutes before Trump addressed reporters, he posted on Truth Social an image appearing to show Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima wearing a blindfold and holding a bottle of water, along with a video of U.S. strikes set to “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on X that Maduro would “face the full wrath” of the American justice system.
An indictment unsealed today charges Maduro with narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.
Prosecutors allege in the indictment that Maduro “is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”
They further allege that Maduro and other officials sold passports, provided protection and facilitated the movement of massive quantities of illegal drugs through Venezuelan ports, including shipments linked to Mexican drug cartels.
Trump said he reviewed the evidence underlying the charges and blamed Maduro for crime and drug trafficking affecting the United States.
“I’ve seen what we have. It’s both horrible and breathtaking that something like this could have been allowed to take place for many years after his term as president of Venezuela expired,” Trump said. “Maduro remained in power and waged a ceaseless campaign of violence, terror and subversion against the United States of America, threatening not only our people, but the stability of the entire region.”
Maduro was first indicted in 2020 during Trump’s first administration. He rose to power in 2013 and was sworn into a third term one year ago, despite evidence he did not win the previous election.
At the United Nations, spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said today that Secretary-General António Guterres was “deeply alarmed by the recent escalation in Venezuela” and warned the U.S. action carried “potential worrying implications for the region.”
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, praised the operation, writing, “Venezuelans, the hour of freedom has arrived.”
In the United States, Trump’s supporters hailed the strike as a blow against drug trafficking and lawlessness, while Democratic leaders accused the president of bypassing Congress and questioned whether the action aligned with an “America First” agenda.
Trump has repeatedly suggested intervention in Venezuela in recent months. Last month, he told NBC News, “I don’t rule it out,” when asked about war with the country.
Days earlier, he announced a blockade of “sanctioned” oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela. Last month, the U.S. seized two oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast, and U.S. forces continued strikes on vessels accused of carrying drugs in the Caribbean.
One day before his capture, Maduro said on state television that he was open to cooperation with the U.S. on narcotics enforcement.
“The U.S. government knows, because we’ve told many of their spokespeople, that if they want to seriously discuss an agreement to combat drug trafficking, we’re ready,” Maduro said.
Today, Democratic lawmakers criticized the administration for acting without congressional approval.
“Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, but I have seen no evidence that his presidency poses a threat that would justify military action without Congressional authorization,” Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut said.
Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey added, “Trump rejected our Constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the Administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war.”
Trump dismissed the criticism during a phone interview with Fox News, calling Democrats “weak, stupid people.”
“As far as last night is concerned, it was really genius. What they did is genius, and the Democrats, maybe they’ll take a shot, you know? They’ll take a shot. All they do is complain,” he said. “They should say, ‘You know what, we did a great job.’ … They do say, ‘Oh, gee, maybe it’s not constitutional.’ You know, the same old stuff that we’ve been hearing for years and years and years.”
Rubio defended the lack of advance notice to lawmakers.
“This is not the kind of mission that you do congressional notification,” he said. “On a trigger-based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night, we watch them monitor that for a number of days. So it’s just simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, ‘Hey, we may do this at some point in the next 15 days.’”
Trump said lawmakers were not notified in advance because “Congress has a tendency to leak.”
Two U.S. officials told NBC News that details of the operation were so tightly held that even the Pentagon was not informed of its precise timing until late last night.
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the action, writing on X, “Today’s military action in Venezuela was a decisive and justified operation that will protect American lives.”
Sources told NBC News that top lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees were briefed after the operation was already underway, including both Republican chairs and Democratic ranking members.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said today that he spoke with Rubio and expects additional briefings next week.
“I spoke to Secretary Rubio early this morning, and I look forward to receiving further briefings from the administration on this operation as part of its comprehensive counternarcotics strategy when the Senate returns to Washington next week,” Thune said.
In November, a bipartisan Senate effort to require congressional approval for future military action in Venezuela fell short of passage. The push followed the administration’s release of declassified footage showing U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats.
In October, Trump said those strikes were part of his fight against cartels and suggested he did not need a declaration of war.
“Well, I don’t think we’re going to necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK, we’re gonna kill them. You know, they’re gonna be like, dead,” he said at the time.
Trump repeated those claims today, saying, “The Maduro regime emptied out their prisons, sent their worst and most violent monsters into the United States to steal American lives, and they came from mental institutions and insane asylums. They came from prisons and jails.”
A source familiar with intelligence operations said today that a small CIA team had been operating inside Venezuela since August, providing “extraordinary insight” into Maduro’s movements and making his capture “seamless.”
Near the end of his remarks, Trump compared Venezuela’s situation to Cuba.
“Cuba is an interesting case. Cuba is, you know, not doing very well right now. That system has not been a very good one for Cuba. The people there have suffered for many, many years,” he said.
“I think Cuba is going to be something we’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now, a very badly failing nation, and we want to help the people. It’s very similar in the sense that we want to help the people in Cuba.”
Rubio added, “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.”
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the U.S. action in a post on X.
His government “urgently demands the reaction of the international community against the criminal attack by the U.S. on #Venezuela. Our #ZonaDePaz [Zone of Peace] is being brutally assaulted. State terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people and against Our America. Homeland or Death We Shall Overcome!”
{Matzav.com}
