Trump says Venezuela’s President Maduro has been captured after US strikes
Helicopters fly past plumes of smoke rising from explosions, in Caracas, Venezuela, January 3, 2026 in this screen grab obtained from video obtained by Reuters. PHOTO | REUTERS
Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has been captured following a U.S. military strike and taken out of the country.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, President Trump said: “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country.”
There has been no immediate confirmation from the Venezuelan government regarding the claims.
The U.S. has long accused Maduro of running a “narco-state” and manipulating elections. Maduro, who took office in 2013 following the death of Hugo Chavez, has repeatedly said Washington seeks control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, the largest in the world.
If verified, the operation would mark the first direct U.S. intervention of this scale in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama to remove military leader Manuel Noriega.
