On the night of January 3, 2026, the United States armed forces carried out a series of strikes on Venezuelan territory, including targets around the capital, Caracas, triggering powerful explosions and widespread power outages across the city. US President Donald Trump said in a statement that the operation was “successful” and that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been captured and removed from the country by American forces. Washington says it intends to bring charges against them in the United States, including over drug trafficking and terrorism, but the legal basis and operational authority for the action remain unclear, and no formal confirmation has been issued by the Pentagon.
The Venezuelan government has described the US action as “military aggression” and is demanding proof that Maduro is alive. The developments come against the backdrop of months of escalating US pressure on Caracas, including strikes on suspected drug shipments, sanctions targeting the oil sector, and the deployment of military forces in the Caribbean.
In an interview with Fox News, US President Donald Trump said Washington would determine its next steps on Venezuela following the capture and removal from the country of President Nicolas Maduro.
Asked who would govern the country, Trump stressed: “We will take an active role in deciding this issue.”
He said the United States does not consider it possible to hand control over to third parties. “We cannot risk allowing someone else to run things and simply take over what he left behind. That is why we are making this decision now. We will be actively involved in this process. And we want to ensure freedom for the people,” the US president said, according to CNN.
Trump also claimed that a significant share of Venezuela’s population welcomed Maduro’s arrest “because they love the United States”, and described the former president’s regime as a “dictatorship”.
The White House chief added that Washington would continue to exert pressure on Venezuelan officials if they remained loyal to Maduro. “If they stay loyal, the future for them will be very bad. I would say that most of them have already switched to the US side,” Trump said.
At the same time, the US president declined to voice support for Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025.