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Government supporters display posters of Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, right, and former President Hugo Ch\u00e1vez in downtown Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. <\/span>Matias Delacroix\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In a steep escalation<\/span> in the United States\u2019 ongoing<\/a> military offensive in the region, President Donald Trump said<\/a> early Saturday that the US had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trump did not seek congressional approval for this move. <\/p>\n In a Truth Social post<\/a>, Trump wrote that the US had \u201csuccessfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader\u201d in an operation \u201cdone in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.\u201d\u00a0Later, he posted a photo<\/a> that he said was of a captured Maduro, blindfolded.<\/p>\n During a Saturday morning press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said several times\u2014without citing any international rule of law that would permit such an action\u2014that the US was \u201cgoing to run the country\u201d until \u201cwe can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,\u201d signaling an American occupation of Venezuela. The president, flanked by national security officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Stephen Miller, said the capture of Maduro and his wife was a \u201cspectacular assault\u201d like \u201cpeople haven\u2019t seen since WWII.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump also warned that the US is prepared to attack Venezuela again if necessary, and claimed that if other leaders go against the US, they may face military action: In an earlier morning interview with Fox News, the president said that Maduro and Flores were taken to the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, one of the American warships that have been operating in the Caribbean. They are set to be taken to New York, where \u201che will face drugs and weapons charges in Manhattan federal court,\u201d according<\/a> to CNN.\u00a0<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s Vice President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez addressed<\/a> the US\u2019s actions on a state-run television station, calling it a \u201cbrutal attack\u201d and adding that she does not know the whereabouts of Maduro or his wife. Rodr\u00edguez, who is next in line to step into power, demanded \u201cproof of life\u201d from Trump.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Trump administration\u2019s announcement on Saturday came after months of military action in the region with the purported goal of stifling drugs coming into the US. Starting in the late summer, US forces conducted 35 known<\/a> strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in South American waters, killing at least 115 people. Videos appearing to show these strikes\u2014which also did not <\/a>go through a congressional approval process\u2014have been shared<\/a> on social media by members of the Trump administration. The US has also seized multiple oil tankers off the country\u2019s coast, conducted a CIA-led drone strike<\/a> on a dock where drugs were allegedly being prepared for loading on boats, and, early on Saturday in connection with the capture operation, carried<\/a> out several strikes throughout the Venezuelan capital<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n During Trump\u2019s Saturday interview with Fox News, he said<\/a> the US is \u201cgoing to be very strongly involved\u201d in Venezuela\u2019s oil reserves.\u00a0The country is home to the largest<\/a> known oil reserve in the world, controlled by a nationalized company called Petr\u00f3leos de Venezuela, S.A., or PDVSA. For the US, greater control over that industry could be a boon<\/a>. Following one of the US seizures of tankers off Venezuela\u2019s coast last year, Trump was asked<\/a> what the US planned to do with the oil on board. He answered: \u201cWell, we keep it, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/s>\u201cWhat happened to Maduro can happen to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n