“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,” Trump said on Truth Social.
“This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.”
Trump added that he would give a news conference at 11:00 am (1600 GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, where he is nearing the end of a two-week Christmas and New Year’s vacation.
Trump’s claim of Maduro’s capture comes two days after Maduro attempted to engage with Trump, offering cooperation on fighting drug trafficking and illegal migration.
Trump has given differing arguments for his campaign against Venezuela, including the claim that the country is a major drug exporter to the United States and that Venezuela seized US oil interests.
The Republican leader has not explicitly called for Maduro’s ouster, but the US government, along with many European nations, does not recognize the Venezuelan leader’s legitimacy.
It could be recalled that President Trump had, in a tense phone call between both men, November 2025, ordered Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to Leave the country or face consequences.
During the call between Trump and Maduro, the socialist president demanded that he be allowed to maintain control of Venezuela’s military if he paved the way for free elections there, said the Miami Herald, citing sources. Maduro also reportedly sought global amnesty for all of his alleged crimes.
Trump’s refusal on both counts was said to be swift as he followed up with an offer that Maduro may not be able to refuse: Leave now or else.
The pair’s talks quickly broke down, with a US poll Sunday lamenting that the ongoing “war” between both sides is already deadlier than Vietnam for his state.
“We have a war that’s coming through fentanyl, through opioids, through cocaine,” US Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) told “Fox News Sunday,” referring to the avalanche of drugs from Venezuela to the US that Trump blames Maduro for and is trying to stop.
“It killed 100,000 Americans last year,” McCormick said of the drug trade. “That’s twice the number of people that died in eight years of Vietnam — 4,000 Pennsylvanians.”
After the phone call between Trump and Maduro failed to reach a detente, the US president announced he was closing the airspace around the South American country — as America’s largest warship, the USS Gerald F. Ford, and a Marine Expeditionary Unit — capable of amphibious invasion — float offshore
Trump only told reporters Sunday that he spoke with Maduro recently, adding, “I wouldn’t say it went well or badly.”
The tense phone call between Trump and Maduro reportedly took place late in the week of Nov. 16, according to the New York Times, just days after Trump said he was open to talking with the dictator.
The call reportedly saw Trump’s and Maduro’s teams go over the details of what a surrender from the Venezuelan strongman would be like, given that the state department has a bounty on his head for $50 million.
Trump informed Maduro during their chat that he, his wife and son would be allowed to leave Venezuela safely, but they must do it immediately, sources said.
First, Maduro asked for global amnesty for any crimes he and his group had committed, and that was rejected,” a source familiar with the call told the Herald.
“Second, they asked to retain control of the armed forces — similar to what happened in Nicaragua in ’91 with Violeta Chamorro. In return, they would allow free elections,” the source said.
The offer of amnesty was also extended to Maduro’s top allies, the Herald noted.
After the breakdown, Trump ramped up pressure on Venezuela and warned that the US would target drug-trafficking networks “by land” soon.
Trump then made an announcement on social media that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered “closed in its entirety,” stoking fears of a looming war in the South American country of 28 million people.
Recall also that the United States, during the presidency of George H. W. Bush, in a similar operation akin to this recent Venezuela strike, invaded Panama in mid-December 1989 and also captured it’s then president and de facto ruler, General Manuel Noriega, who was wanted by U.S. authorities for racketeering and drug trafficking.
Noriega was captured in what was referred to as “Operation Nifty Package” carried out by the United States Delta Force and Navy SEAL and flown to the U.S., where he was tried on the Miami indictment, convicted on most of the charges, and sentenced to 40 years in prison, ultimately serving 17 years after a reduction in his sentence for good behavior.