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The United States has ‘captured’ the Venezuelan president, Trump says, after a wave of air strikes
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The United States has ‘captured’ the Venezuelan president, Trump says, after a wave of air strikes

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US President Donald Trump has said the US has captured and removed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the country following a wave of airstrikes on the South American nation.
“The United States of America has successfully conducted a large-scale attack against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who was captured and flown out of the country along with his wife,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
“This operation was conducted in coordination with US law enforcement. Details to follow,” Trump said, adding that there would be a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida at 11am local time (3am AEDT).
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said the Venezuelan government does not know the whereabouts of Maduro or his wife Cilia Flores.
“We demand immediate proof of the lives of President Nicolas Maduro and the first fighter Cilia Flores,” Rodriguez said in an audio clip played on state television on Saturday morning.

Earlier, the Venezuelan government released a statement condemning US “military aggression” after airstrikes hit the country’s capital and other areas.

Pedestrians run away after explosions and low-flying planes were heard in the Venezuelan capital Caracas in the early hours of January 3, 2026. Source: AP / Matias Delacroix

Attacks took place in the capital Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, the statement said, prompting Maduro to declare a national emergency and call on social and political forces to “activate mobilization plans.”

Multiple explosions rocked Caracas around 2 a.m. local time on Saturday morning and columns of black smoke and planes could be seen, according to Reuters witnesses and reports circulating on social media.
A power outage hit the southern part of the city, near a major military base, witnesses said.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said US forces have “desecrated our soil, even going so far as to fire missiles and rockets from their helicopter gunships, residential areas populated by civilians”.

The South American country would launch a “massive deployment of all land, air, naval, riverine and missile capabilities… for a comprehensive defense,” Lopez said in a video statement shared on social media.

Trump has repeatedly promised land operations in Venezuela. He has not publicly outlined his goals but has privately pressured Maduro to flee the country, Reuters reports.
The US has carried out a major military build-up in the region, including an aircraft carrier, warships and advanced fighter jets based in the Caribbean.
Trump has been searching a “blockade” of Venezuelan oilexpanded sanctions against the Maduro government and carried out more than 20 attacks on ships the US claims were involved in drug trafficking in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

Trump said on Monday that it would be “smart” if Maduro left power.

The Venezuelan government said in its earlier statement that the aim of the attack was for the US to take possession of the country’s oil and minerals, adding that the US “will not succeed”.
“In strict compliance with Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, Venezuela reserves the right to exercise legitimate self-defense in order to protect its people, its territory and its independence,” the statement said.
“We call on the peoples and governments of Latin America, the Caribbean and the world to mobilize in active solidarity in the face of this imperial aggression.”
The US has not made such a direct intervention in Latin America to oust military leader Manuel Noriega since the 1989 invasion of Panama, amid similar allegations.

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