The United States launched a large-scale overnight strike in Venezuela early Saturday and captured President Nicolás Maduro, flying him out of the country, President Donald Trump announced on social media, an extraordinary operation that Venezuela’s government denounced as an “imperialist attack.”
Multiple explosions were reported across Caracas as low-flying aircraft swept the capital. Venezuela’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations and urged citizens to take to the streets. It was not immediately clear who was running the country or where Maduro was being held.
Trump announced the operation shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET on Truth Social, saying Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “have been captured and flown out of the Country” in an operation conducted with U.S. law enforcement. Additional details were provided at a news conference later Saturday.
Under Venezuelan law, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez assumed power once the president was removed, as confirmed during President Trump’s press conference. Rodríguez said the government did not know the whereabouts of Maduro or Flores and demanded proof of life. She said some civilians and members of the military were killed during the strikes, but did not provide a number.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said on X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed him on the operation and told him Maduro had been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial in the United States. The White House did not immediately respond to questions about where Maduro and Flores were being flown.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the couple had been indicted in the Southern District of New York and would face charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons-related offenses. Maduro was previously indicted in March 2020 on narco-terrorism charges, though it had not been publicly known that Flores had also been indicted. Bondi said they would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”
The legal authority for the strike and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand were not immediately clear. The action echoed the 1990 U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the capture of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega.
The Pentagon referred questions about the safety of U.S. personnel involved in the operation to the White House. Trump said the strikes were carried out “successfully” and lasted less than 30 minutes. At least seven explosions were reported, sending residents into the streets and prompting widespread social media posts describing the blasts.
Maduro last appeared on state television on Friday, meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.
The strike followed months of intensified pressure by the Trump administration on Maduro’s government, including a buildup of U.S. forces off South America and actions targeting vessels accused of carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean. Last week, the CIA carried out a drone strike at a docking area believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels, the first known direct U.S. operation on Venezuelan soil since strikes began in September.
Maduro arrived in New York on Saturday and was taken into custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he is being held ahead of an expected federal arraignment
