By Akakan Umoh
US President, Donald Trump announced early Saturday morning that the US carried out a “large scale strike against Venezuela” and that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and removed from the country.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” he wrote on Truth Social.
Venezuela requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to the attack, Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto said.
“No cowardly attack will prevail against the strength of this people, who will emerge victorious,” he said on Telegram, sharing the letter sent to the UN.
Related News: Brazil Grants Asylum To 21,432 Venezuelans
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said in an audio call with state-run VTV that the government doesn’t know the whereabouts of Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, demanding “immediate proof of life” from the Trump administration.
A CNN team witnessed several explosions and heard the sounds of aircraft early Saturday in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity.
Several areas of the city were without power and CNN journalists there could hear the sound of aircraft after the explosions.
In a statement before Trump’s announcement, Venezuela’s government condemned what it said was a “very serious grave military aggression,” and accused the US of carrying out an attack on Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López insisted the country would resist the presence of foreign troops in the country.
“This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has suffered,” he said.
He also called for a “massive deployment” of military forces in the country, information from the defense ministry showed.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times Saturday morning, Trump hailed what he called a “brilliant operation.”
“A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump told the Times. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
According to the Times, Trump declined to answer questions about whether he had sought congressional authorization for the strike, saying he would address the issue at a news conference on Saturday at Mar-a-Lago, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET.
Calm in Caracas after the strikes
CNN’s Mary Mena said from Caracas that the capital was calm hours after the strikes.
“We listened to many airplanes and helicopters passing by, but right now the city remains quiet, for the past two hours,” she said. “We haven’t heard people for example coming to the streets, and the state channel keeps repeating this message from the ministry of defense saying they want people to remain calm and they will deploy military forces across the country.”
The first blast witnessed by the CNN team was recorded at approximately 1:50 a.m. local time (12:50 a.m. ET).
“One was so strong, my window was shaking after it,” CNNE correspondent Osmary Hernandez said.
Several areas of the city were without power, and CNN journalists in the capital heard the sound of aircraft after the explosions.
One video obtained and verified by CNN showed two plumes of smoke rising into the night sky amid city lights. An orange glow could be seen at the base of one of the plumes. Then a flash in another location was briefly seen, followed by a dull booming sound.
In recent weeks, Trump had repeatedly warned that the US was preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela and that strikes on land will start “soon.”
Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro has included strikes destroying more than 30 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in what the US has described as a counter-narcotics campaign. Trump last month ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela.
The CIA carried out a drone strike in December on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, CNN reported last month, citing sources, marking the first known US attack on a target inside that country.
$50 million bounty
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee said Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him that Maduro was arrested to stand trial in the US.
“He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” Utah Sen. Mike Lee posted on X early Saturday.
The Trump administration has for years said that Maduro was a criminal and has looked to prosecute him through the US legal system.
In 2020, during Trump’s first term, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York for “narco-terrorism,” conspiracy to import cocaine, and related charges.
The Trump administration offered a $15 million bounty for Maduro’s arrest. That bounty was increased to $25 million in the waning days of the Biden administration, in early January 2025, and was increased again, to $50 million, in August 2025 after Trump took office for a second term and designated Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization.
The administration has claimed that Maduro is the leader of that group, which it describes as a criminal organization.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who initially expressed skepticism about the legal basis for the strikes, said Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him in a phone call that they were to “protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant.”
Maduro will “stand trial on criminal charges in the United States” and Rubio “anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody,” said Lee, who said the action “likely” falls within Trump’s authority under Article II of the U.S. Constitution.
Some Republicans were quick to praise the move, with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), one of Congress’ most vocal critics of the Maduro regime, saying in a statement: “While others dithered, President Trump recognized this threat for what it is and acted with resolve.”
Gustavo Petro, the left-wing president of neighboring Colombia, said in a statement before Trump’s announcement that his government had “deep concern” about the strikes in Caracas.
“Colombia reaffirms its unrestricted commitment to … the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States,” Petro said.
The U.S. sanctioned Petro in October, alleging that he too has ties to illicit drugs.
