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President Donald Trump announced early January 3, 2026, that U.S. Armed Forces successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a dramatic overnight military raid in Caracas. The operation, which Trump described as utilizing “overwhelming American military power” comparable to assaults not seen since World War II, targeted Maduro’s heavily-fortified compound in the Venezuelan capital. Both Maduro and Flores face narco-terrorism charges in the Southern District of New York and are currently aboard the USS Iwo Jima awaiting transfer to face American justice. Trump revealed the U.S. will temporarily administer Venezuela’s government and rebuild its oil infrastructure, with American oil companies investing billions to restore production while ensuring the country doesn’t fall to another corrupt regime.
Participants
Donald Trump – President of the United States
Pete Hegseth – Secretary of War
General Dan “Raizin” Caine – Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Marco Rubio – Secretary of State
Reporters – Press corps
The Military Operation: “Operation Absolute Resolve”
President Trump opened the press conference by characterizing the overnight military action as “one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.” He compared it favorably to previous operations during his administration, including the strikes on Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and what he referred to as “Operation Midnight Hammer” against Iranian nuclear sites.
The president emphasized the operation’s flawless execution, stating “not a single American service member was killed, and not a single piece of American equipment was lost,” despite what he described as significant opposition and gunfire. Trump noted that Venezuelan forces were waiting in “a ready position” because they knew American ships were positioned off the coast, but were nonetheless “completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Dan Caine provided extensive operational details during his portion of the briefing. He explained that “Operation Absolute Resolve” was conducted during the darkest hours of January 2nd and represented “a culmination of months of planning and rehearsal, an operation that, frankly, only the United States military could undertake.”
According to Caine, the mission involved more than 150 aircraft launching from 20 different bases across the Western Hemisphere, including bombers, fighters, intelligence and reconnaissance aircraft, and rotary wing helicopters. The extraction force flew at 100 feet above water as they approached Venezuelan shores, while overhead protection came from F-22s, F-35s, F-18s, EA-18s, E-2s, B-1 bombers, and numerous remotely piloted drones.
The chairman described how U.S. Space Command, Cyber Command, and other interagency partners created “a pathway” by layering different effects as the helicopters approached. The lights of Caracas were largely turned off, Trump noted, “due to a certain expertise that we have.” The joint air component systematically dismantled Venezuelan air defense systems to ensure safe passage of the helicopters.
Caine revealed the force arrived at Maduro’s compound at 1:01 AM Eastern Standard Time (2:01 AM Caracas local time). Trump added dramatic details, explaining that Maduro was attempting to reach a fortified safe room but “wasn’t able to make it to the door because our guys were so fast.” The president said Maduro “made it to the door, he was unable to close it,” and that even if he had succeeded, U.S. forces could have breached the steel door “in about 47 seconds, on average, regardless of how thick the steel was.”
The helicopters came under fire upon arrival, with one aircraft hit but remaining flyable throughout the mission. General Caine emphasized that “Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up, and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by our incredible US military with professionalism and precision, with no loss of US life.” The force successfully exfiltrated and was over water by 3:29 AM Eastern Standard Time with both prisoners aboard.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth praised the operation effusively, stating “no other country on planet Earth, and it’s not even close, could pull this kind of operation off. And no other president has ever shown this kind of leadership, courage, and resolve.” He emphasized that “our adversaries remain on notice. America can project our will anywhere, anytime.”
The Charges Against Maduro
Trump outlined the extensive criminal allegations against Maduro, describing him as “the kingpin of a vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs into the United States.” According to the president, Maduro personally oversaw the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), which “flooded our nation with lethal poison responsible for the deaths of countless Americans, the many, many Americans, hundreds of thousands over the years.”
The president specifically highlighted how Maduro “sent savage and murderous gangs, including the bloodthirsty prison gang, Tren de Aragua, to terrorize American communities nationwide.” He referenced specific cases, including 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray from Houston, who was “kidnapped, assaulted and murdered by Tren de Aragua” and left dead under a bridge.
Trump stated that “the Maduro regime emptied out their prisons, sent their worst and most violent monsters into the United States to steal American lives.” He noted these included individuals from “mental institutions and insane asylums” as well as “drug dealers” and “drug kingpins.” The president boasted about his administration’s border security achievements, claiming “we now have a border where nobody gets through.”
Regarding drug interdiction, Trump claimed his administration has “knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by sea,” with each intercepted shipment preventing an average of 25,000 deaths. He emphasized that “those drugs mostly come from a place called Venezuela.”
U.S. Administration of Venezuela
Perhaps the most significant policy announcement came when Trump declared the United States will directly administer Venezuela’s government during a transition period. The president stated: “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.”
Trump emphasized this wasn’t a short-term occupation, explaining “we’re there now, but we’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place.” He stressed the U.S. couldn’t “take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind.”
When pressed by reporters about who would run Venezuela, Trump indicated a team led by Secretary Hegseth and Secretary Rubio would oversee the interim administration. He noted that Venezuela’s Vice President, who had been appointed by Maduro and was sworn in as president shortly before the press conference, had spoken with Secretary Rubio and agreed to cooperate, telling him “we’ll do whatever you need.”
Trump acknowledged she “really doesn’t have a choice,” adding “we’re gonna have this done right. We’re not gonna just do this with Maduro, then leave, like everybody else leave and say, ‘Let it go to hell.’” The president argued that without U.S. oversight, Venezuela “has zero chance of ever coming back.”
When asked whether U.S. troops would be on the ground, Trump replied candidly: “Well, you know, they always say boots on the ground. We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have. We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level, actually.”
Secretary Rubio emphasized during questioning that María Corina Machado, the opposition leader, would not be elevated to leadership, with Trump stating “I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader if she doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within the country.”
Oil Infrastructure and Economic Plans
Trump devoted substantial attention to Venezuela’s oil industry, which he characterized as “a bust, a total bust, for a long period of time.” He explained that Venezuela had been “pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they could have been pumping and what could’ve taken place.”
The president announced that “very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world,” would “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.” He emphasized this “partnership of Venezuela with the United States of America will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe.”
Trump stressed repeatedly that the occupation would not cost American taxpayers. “You know, it won’t cost us anything, because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial, so it’s not gonna cost us anything,” he told reporters. The oil companies would invest billions, and “we’re gonna take back the oil that, frankly, we shoulda taken back a long time ago.”
The president explained that Venezuela had “unilaterally seized and sold American oil, American assets, and American platforms costing us billions and billions of dollars” during previous administrations. He characterized this as “one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country,” describing how “we built Venezuela oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us.”
Trump noted the infrastructure is “old, it’s rotted. Much of it is stuff that we put there 25 years ago, and we’re gonna be replacing it.” He warned it’s currently “very dangerous. It’s blow-up territory. Oil is very dangerous. It’s a very dangerous thing to take out of the ground.”
The president stated the U.S. would continue selling Venezuelan oil to international buyers, including China and other countries currently using it, but “probably in much larger doses because they couldn’t produce very much because their infrastructure was so bad.”
Implications for the Western Hemisphere
Trump framed the Venezuela operation within his broader foreign policy doctrine for the Western Hemisphere. He invoked the Monroe Doctrine, noting it dates back “more than two centuries” but claiming his administration has “superseded it by a lot.” He quipped that “they now call it the ‘Donroe’ Document,” suggesting his policies have expanded beyond the traditional prohibition on European interference in the Americas.
The president emphasized: “Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western hemisphere will never be questioned again.” He argued that “for decades, other administrations have neglected or even contributed to these growing security threats in the Western hemisphere,” but “under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region.”
Trump directly addressed threats to neighboring Cuba, calling it “a failing nation right now, very badly failing nation.” He noted “Cuba is gonna be something we’ll end up talking about, ’cause Cuba is a failing nation right now.” Secretary Rubio added that if he “lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned at least, a little bit.”
Rubio emphasized that “all the guards that helped protect Maduro” were Cuban, along with Venezuela’s “whole spy agency.” He stated that “one of the biggest problems that Venezuelans have is they have to declare independence from Cuba, that tried to basically colonize it from a security standpoint.”
When asked about Colombia, whose President Gustavo Petro Trump had previously warned to “watch his ass,” the president reiterated his concern: “He has cocaine mills. He has factories where he makes cocaine. And yeah, I think I stick by my first statement. He’s making cocaine, they’re sending it into the United States, so he does have to watch his.”
Domestic Crime Reduction Achievements
Trump used the Venezuela announcement as an opportunity to highlight what he described as dramatic crime reductions in American cities achieved through deployment of the National Guard and military forces. He claimed Washington, D.C. has become “totally safe” after being “one of the most unsafe cities anywhere in the world,” stating “we haven’t had a killing” for “six, seven months” except for “the terrorist attack a few weeks ago.”
The president contrasted this with the previous situation where “we used to have two, on average, two a week in Washington, our capital.” He described restaurants opening throughout the city and residents safely walking with “their daughters, their children, their wives.”
Trump reported similar success in Memphis, Tennessee, where he claimed crime is “down now 77%” after “just sort of started a few weeks ago.” In New Orleans, he stated crime is “down to almost nothing already after two and a half weeks.”
The president mentioned more limited cooperation in Chicago, where despite working with “no working ability with the governor” who was “a disaster and the mayor was a disaster,” the deployment still “knocked down crime.” Trump indicated federal forces were “pulling out of there” but would return “when they need us.”
Regarding Los Angeles, Trump claimed the federal government “saved Los Angeles early on” during riots following fires, with “the head of the police department made a statement that if the federal government didn’t come in, we would have lost Los Angeles.” He stated they would also pull out when needed but could return if necessary.
The Tren de Aragua Gang Threat
President Trump devoted significant attention to the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua, which he characterized as sent by Maduro specifically to terrorize American communities. He described how the gang “took over apartment complexes” in Colorado and “cut the fingers off people if they called police.”
Trump recounted that gang members “raped, tortured, and murdered American women and children” across multiple American cities. He specifically mentioned 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray from Houston, who was “kidnapped, assaulted and murdered by Tren de Aragua, animals” who “left her dead under the bridge.”
The president explained that “the Maduro regime emptied out their prisons, sent their worst and most violent monsters into the United States to steal American lives.” He noted they came “from mental institutions and insane asylums. They came from prisons and jails,” distinguishing that “prisons, a little bit more hostile, a little bit tougher. A mental institution isn’t as tough as an insane asylum, but we got them both.”
Warnings to World Leaders
Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered perhaps the most pointed message to other world leaders during his portion of the briefing. He emphasized that Maduro “had multiple opportunities to avoid this. He was provided multiple very, very, very generous offers and chose instead to act like a wild man, chose instead to play around.”
Rubio stressed: “I hope what people now understand is that we have a president. The 47th President of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you that he’s going to do something, when he tells you he’s going to address a problem, he means it. He actions it.”
The Secretary of State contrasted Trump with previous administrations: “Everybody talks, ‘I’m going to do this. I’m going to do that. When I get there, we’re going to do this.’ This is a president of action.” He added emphatically: “Like, I don’t understand yet how they haven’t figured this out. And now, if you don’t know, now you know.”
Rubio emphasized Trump’s preference for diplomatic resolution: “This guy had multiple opportunities to find his way somewhere else and figure out another. He could’ve been living somewhere else right now very happy, but instead, he wanted to play big boy.”
He concluded with a warning for other nations: “The president doesn’t go out looking for people to pick fights with. He generally wants to get along with everybody. We’ll talk and meet with anybody, but don’t play games. Don’t play games with this president’s in office because it’s not gonna turn out well.”
Russia-Ukraine War Frustrations
In response to questions about Russia, Trump revealed frustrations with his efforts to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. He stated bluntly: “I’m not thrilled with Putin. I’m not thrilled with Putin. He’s killing too many people.”
The president disclosed staggering casualty figures: “Did you see where last month, 30,000, this last, it was 27. 27,000 the month before. 30,000 mostly soldiers were killed this last month.” He emphasized “we’re losing 25, 30,000 human beings” and his desire to “stop all those people.”
Trump claimed to have “settled eight and one quarter wars,” giving himself partial credit for mediating between Thailand and Cambodia in a conflict that “broke out” but which he resolved “in about five hours.” He said “over the last four days, I got them to go back to peace,” but only credits himself “one quarter” for that achievement.
Regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, Trump lamented: “I thought that would be something that would get solved.” He characterized it as “Biden’s war, that’s not my war, but I wanna stop the lives.” The president maintained “if I were president, it would’ve never happened. Putin says it, everybody says it.”
Trump noted he has gotten NATO countries to increase their defense spending contributions to 5% (up from 2%), and emphasized “the United States is not losing money. We’re probably making money on that,” though he added “it’s the last thing I care about. I just wanna stop all those people.”
The president concluded by saying that while he has special envoy Steve Witkoff working on the issue, “that’s a war that should have never happened,” and complained “I inherited that war. That was Joe Biden, Zelenskyy, and Putin. I came into the situation and it’s a mess.”
Congressional Notification Controversy
When questioned about whether Congress was notified before the military operation, Secretary Rubio explained that members were called “immediately after” but could not be notified in advance. He stated: “This was not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on. It was a trigger based mission in which conditions had to be met night after night. We watched and monitored that for a number of days.”
Rubio emphasized it was “simply not the kind of mission you can call people and say, ‘Hey, we may do this at some point in the next 15 days,’” and noted “it’s just not the kind of mission that you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission.”
President Trump interjected with his own concern: “Plus, if I could add one thing to that. Congress has a tendency to leak. This would not be good. If they leaked, General, I think it would have been maybe a very different result.” He acknowledged Venezuelan forces “knew we were coming at some point” given the naval presence but stressed “Congress will leak, and we don’t want leakers.”
The Honduran Pardon Comparison
When asked to explain how his military action against Maduro for drug trafficking differs from his recent pardon of a former Honduran president convicted on drug trafficking charges, Trump defended his decision emphatically. He explained he had “endorsed the winning president” in Honduras, Chile, and Argentina, and “we are doing very well with that whole group.”
Regarding the pardoned Honduran official, Trump stated: “The man that I pardoned was, if you could equate it to us, he was treated like the Biden administration treated a man named Trump. That didn’t work out too well for them.” He characterized it as a man “who was persecuted very unfairly. He was outta the country. He was persecuted very unfairly.”
Trump explained the official “is also a party member of the man who won, so obviously, the people liked what I did.” He noted “the party in power felt very strongly that that man was treated very badly,” and after studying it “in great detail” with his advisors, they “felt that that man was persecuted and treated very badly. That’s why I gave him a pardon.”
Message to the Venezuelan People
When directly asked what message he had for the Venezuelan people, Trump offered reassurance: “That you’re gonna have peace, justice, you’re going to have some of the riches that you should have had for a long period of time that was stolen from you. But you’re gonna have peace and you’re gonna have safety, you’re gonna have justice, you’re gonna have a country, you’re gonna have a real country.”
He positioned Venezuela’s potential transformation optimistically: “You’re gonna have, potentially, a great country. You know, if you go back 20 years, maybe even a little longer ago, that was a great country, and they destroyed it.”
The president drew parallels to his campaign rhetoric about America’s trajectory, stating: “Remember, I said that if we lose this election, the United States will be Venezuela on steroids. That’s what would have happened. Had we lost the election, the 2024 election, we suffered so badly when you look at the border from 2020.”
Trump promised that under U.S. administration, “the biggest beneficiary are gonna be the people of Venezuela, and also, I can’t stress this strongly enough, the people that got thrown out of Venezuela that are now in the United States,” noting “some wanna stay and some probably wanna go back.”
Operation Timeline and Duration
When questioned about how long the U.S. expects to administer Venezuela, Trump indicated it would not be brief. “I’d like to do it quickly, but it takes a period of time,” he explained, emphasizing the infrastructure rebuilding required. He noted the infrastructure is “rotted. It’s actually very dangerous. It’s blow-up territory.”
The president suggested it could be “a year” or longer before Venezuela is “put back on track, make a lot of money for the people, and give people a great way of life, and also reimbursement for people in our country that were forced out of Venezuela.”
Chairman Caine provided operational context, explaining the mission planning began months ago. The weather conditions were critical, with the force waiting through Christmas and New Year’s for “the right triggers to be met.” Finally, “last night, the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only the most skilled aviators in the world could maneuver through.”
The president received the operational order at “10:46 PM Eastern time last night,” with Caine recounting Trump’s words to the force: “Good luck and God speed.” According to the General, preparation involved understanding “how he moved, where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets” through months of intelligence work.
Protection of Americans in Venezuela
When asked about protecting Americans currently in Venezuela, Trump responded confidently: “Right now, they are very protected because nobody’s gonna mess with us. They’re very protected. The people have, and we let them know that, you better not touch one of them.”
He also addressed concerns about remaining elements of the Maduro regime, stating: “Well, we know who they are. We’re on ’em, and they’re acting much differently now than they would’ve acted two days ago.”
The “America First” Rationale
When challenged by a reporter asking “why is running a country in South America America first?”, Trump defended the policy comprehensively: “Well, I think it is because we wanna surround ourself with good neighbors. We wanna surround ourself with stability. We wanna surround ourself with energy. We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves. We need that for the world.”
He elaborated that “we wanna be surrounded by countries that aren’t housing all of our enemies all over the world. That’s what was happening, and you don’t wanna have that.” Trump emphasized the financial sustainability: “We’re not spending money. The oil companies are gonna go in, they’re gonna spend money, we’re gonna take back the oil that, frankly, we shoulda taken back a long time ago.”
The president argued: “We have to be surrounded by safe, secure countries, and we also have to have energy. Very important.” He predicted that “what’s going to happen with Venezuela, I think, over the next period of a year is gonna be a great thing, and the people of Venezuela will be the biggest beneficiaries.”
Closing Remarks and Praise for Military Leadership
Trump concluded his opening remarks with effusive praise for Chairman Caine: “I want to thank General ‘Raizin’ Caine. He’s a fantastic man. I’ve worked with a lot of generals. I worked with some I didn’t like, I worked with some I didn’t respect, I worked with some that just weren’t good, but this guy is fantastic.”
The president described watching “one of the most precise attacks” and expressed pride in both the General and “our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth.”
Secretary Hegseth reciprocated the praise, stating: “Finally, a commander-in-chief the world respects and the American people deserve.” He characterized what he witnessed as “sheer guts and grit, gallantry, and glory of the American warrior,” adding “I’m simply humbled by such men.”
Chairman Caine concluded his briefing by emphasizing that “our forces remain in the region at a high state of readiness, prepared to project power, defend themselves, and our interests in the region.” He expressed “heartfelt gratitude to the brave men and women who executed this mission. Their courage and tireless commitment to our nation are what makes us strong.”
The operation represents an unprecedented assertion of U.S. military power in the Western Hemisphere, with significant implications for regional politics, international law, Venezuelan sovereignty, and American foreign policy doctrine. The announcement of direct U.S. administration of Venezuela’s government marks a dramatic departure from recent American foreign policy approaches in Latin America.
MLA Citation
“Press Conference: Donald Trump Discusses the Capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela – January 3, 2026.” Factbase, 3 Jan. 2026, factba.se. Transcript.