Venezuela live updates: US carries out ‘large-scale attack’, Maduro and wife ‘captured’, Trump says
President Donald Trump said the United States “successfully carried out a large-scale attack against Venezuela” and said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were “captured and flown out of the country.”
The announcement on Trump’s social media platform came shortly before 4:30 a.m. Saturday, a few hours after several explosions were heard in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, witnesses said, and photos and videos showed plumes of smoke and a large fireball in the night sky.
FILE PHOTO: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro waves while holding the hand of his wife Cilia Flores during a ceremony to swear in new community organizations, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration increases pressure on Maduro’s government, in Caracas, Venezuela, December 1, 2025.
Leonardo Fernández Viloria/Reuters
Trump said the operation was carried out in conjunction with US law enforcement and said he would hold a news conference at 11 a.m. from Mar-a-Lago.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, President Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture Maduro.
“A lot of good planning and a lot of, great troops and great people,” Trump told the New York Times. “It was actually a brilliant operation.”
Asked whether he had requested congressional authorization for the operation or what would come next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those issues during his news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday morning.
The latest developments come amid rising tensions between the United States and Venezuela, including the build-up of US military forces in the Caribbean and attacks on suspected drug trafficking ships.
Night view of Caracas taken after a series of explosions heard on January 3, 2026. Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds reminiscent of airplane flyovers, were heard in Caracas around 2:00 am (06:00 GMT) on January 3, an AFP journalist reported. The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a naval task force to the Caribbean, raised the possibility of ground attacks against Venezuela.
Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration issued an alert prohibiting US civilian aircraft from flying over Venezuela “due to flight safety risks associated with ongoing military activity,” according to the FAA.
The Venezuelan government issued a statement condemning what it called “the serious military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America” in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
(FILES) (COMBO) This combination of images created on August 7, 2025 shows US President Donald Trump (L) in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2025, and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (R), in Caracas on July 31, 2024.
Jim Watson, Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images
In addition, President Nicolás Maduro ordered the implementation of national defense plans, and declared the “state of External Shock throughout the national territory,” according to the statement.
The United States has long considered Maduro the head of a corrupt dictatorial regime. In 2024, Maduro declared victory after a widely contested presidential election for a third term.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro arrives with his wife Cilia Flores to deliver his annual speech to parliament in Caracas on January 15, 2025. President Donald Trump said on January 3, 2026 that US forces had captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro after launching a “large-scale attack” against the South American country.
Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images
In an unprecedented move in November, the Trump administration declared Maduro the head of a foreign terrorist organization, citing alleged ties to drug cartels, which Maduro denied. The designation placed the Venezuelan leader on the same list as terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda and the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.
In August, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States had increased the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest from $25 million to $50 million.
Maduro has faced charges in the United States of narcotics and terrorism since 2020, when federal prosecutors in New York accused him of conspiring with a Colombian rebel group to “flood the United States with cocaine to undermine the health and well-being” of the nation.
Image of the fire at Fuerte Tiuna, the largest military complex in Venezuela, after a series of explosions in Caracas on January 3, 2026. Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds reminiscent of aircraft overflights, were heard in Caracas around 2:00 a.m. (06:00 GMT) on January 3, an AFP journalist reported. The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a naval task force to the Caribbean, raised the possibility of ground attacks against Venezuela.
Luis Jaimes/AFP via Getty Images
The charges include narcoterrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to possess weapons. Prosecutors allege that Maduro and 14 current or former officials ran a vast criminal enterprise over the past 20 years, using state resources to fuel international drug trafficking, including in the United States.
Republican Senator Mike Lee posted on X early Saturday morning saying he spoke with Rubio by phone about actions being taken in Venezuela. According to Lee, Rubio said that Maduro had been arrested by US personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action was taken to protect those carrying out the order.
He also said that Rubio told him that he does not foresee “further actions in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
