Trump says U.S. will oversee Venezuela following capture of Maduro

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States will temporarily “run” Venezuela following a U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, marking a dramatic escalation in Washington’s long-running effort to remove the socialist leader from power.

“We’re going to run this country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. “We want peace, liberty, and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country. It’s their homeland.”

Trump said U.S. forces are now inside Venezuela and will remain there until what he described as a “proper transition can take place.” When asked who would govern the country in the interim, the president said the administration would designate officials, but added that “for a period of time,” leadership would largely consist of those standing behind him at the press conference — an apparent reference to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

Gen. Caine said the operation was called “Operation Absolute Resolve.” Trump stated that no American lives or military equipment were lost and confirmed that the U.S. embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in effect.

According to the president, U.S. planners had prepared a second, larger phase of the operation, but it is not being executed at this time. Trump described the potential follow-up action as “much bigger.”

The capture of Maduro and his wife follows months of intensified U.S. pressure against the Venezuelan government. Shortly after Trump publicly announced the operation, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the couple had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on drug trafficking and firearm charges.

“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said.

Venezuelan officials did not immediately release casualty figures but acknowledged that Venezuelans were killed during the operation.

U.S. officials have long argued that Maduro, who assumed power in 2013, is an illegitimate ruler and have accused him of overseeing large-scale cocaine trafficking into the United States. In 2020, U.S. prosecutors indicted Maduro on charges alleging he led a drug trafficking organization known as the Cartel de los Soles.

Rubio, who previously reposted a message stating that “Maduro is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government,” addressed reporters Saturday and confirmed that Congress was not notified in advance of the operation. He described it as a “trigger-based mission.”

“It’s just 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,’ but it’s largely a law enforcement function,” Rubio said. “At its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice, and the Department of War supported the Department of Justice in that job. Now, there are broader policy implications here, but it’s just not that kind of mission that you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission.”

The Pentagon has been steadily increasing its military presence in the Caribbean since August, deploying warships, troops, and air assets. U.S. officials say American forces have attacked numerous small vessels suspected of drug trafficking, actions that have resulted in at least 115 deaths. In recent weeks, the U.S. has also seized two Venezuelan oil tankers, cutting into what officials describe as the Maduro government’s primary source of revenue.

Trump said the United States is prepared to deploy ground forces if necessary and acknowledged that stabilizing the country will take time.

“We have to rebuild their whole infrastructure,” he said. “The infrastructure is rotted. It’s actually really dangerous.”

During the press conference, Rubio also referenced Cuba, calling the country a “disaster” and saying it is in “total collapse.”

Trump framed the operation as a major security victory for the United States and the region.

“America is a safer nation this morning. It’s a prouder nation this morning, because it didn’t allow this horrible person and his country, that was doing very bad things to us,” he said. “It didn’t allow it to happen, and the Western Hemisphere is right now a lot safer place to be.”