US President Donald Trump said the United States has carried out a “successful, large-scale strike” against Venezuela, resulting in the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and their removal from the country, marking a dramatic escalation in the standoff between Washington and Caracas.
In a statement on Saturday, Trump said the operation was conducted in coordination with US law enforcement agencies and based on existing legal procedures in the United States.
He noted that a US court arrest warrant had been issued against Maduro, providing what he described as the legal foundation for the operation. Trump did not disclose where Maduro and his wife were taken.
Shortly after announcing the development on social media, Trump spoke briefly by phone about the operation.
It was just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning when he took the call, roughly 10 minutes after publicly declaring that U.S. forces had captured the Venezuelan leader.
Trump praised the mission’s execution.
“A lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and great people,” he said. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
When asked whether he had sought congressional authorization before what he described online as a “large-scale strike” involving US military and law enforcement personnel, Trump declined to provide details.
“We’ll discuss that,” he said. “We’re going to have a news conference.”
Trump added that he would address the operation and its implications at 11 a.m. from Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida, where he has spent the past two weeks.
Pressed on what he envisions next for Venezuela and why such a high-risk mission was necessary, Trump ended the call, saying, “You’re going to hear all about it 11 o’clock.” The conversation lasted about 50 seconds.
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