Trump Claims US Will ‘Run’ Venezuela After Maduro Seized
US special forces capture Venezuelan President in dramatic overnight operation
- Trump says the US will administer Venezuela until a “proper transition”
- Maduro and wife Cilia Flores captured in special forces raid
- Explosions, low-flying aircraft reported across Caracas
- US hints at control of Venezuela’s oil infrastructure
GG News Bureau
Florida/Caracas, 3rd Jan: US President Donald Trump made a dramatic declaration on Saturday, claiming that the United States would “run” Venezuela until what he described as a “safe, proper and judicious” political transition is put in place, following a covert overnight operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Speaking at a press conference from his Florida residence, Trump offered no timeline or legal framework for the unprecedented move, saying Washington would directly administer the oil-rich South American nation until it deemed conditions suitable for a handover of power.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said. “So we are going to run the country.”
The announcement came just hours after US special forces carried out a tightly coordinated strike inside Venezuela. According to accounts from both Washington and Caracas, the operation unfolded shortly before dawn, with at least seven explosions reported across Caracas as low-flying aircraft crossed the city. Residents described brief but intense blasts, followed by smoke rising from military installations.
Verified video footage showed tracer fire lighting up hillsides near the capital, while separate images showed smoke billowing from a hangar at a major military base. One key installation reportedly lost power immediately after the strikes.
Venezuelan officials said Maduro and Flores were seized from their residence within the heavily guarded Fort Tiuna military complex. Senior ruling party figure Nahum Fernandez described the operation as a “kidnapping” following air strikes near the presidential compound.
Within hours, Trump posted a photograph on his Truth Social platform showing Maduro aboard a US warship, blindfolded and handcuffed. Trump later confirmed that Maduro was being held on the USS Iwo Jima, en route to New York.
US officials said the couple would face fresh criminal charges in the United States after a new Justice Department indictment accused them of involvement in a “narco-terrorism conspiracy.”
Trump also said American companies would take the lead in rebuilding Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, presenting the proposed US administration as a “partnership” aimed at making Venezuelans “rich, independent and safe.” He confirmed that a second wave of military action had been prepared but was deemed unnecessary after the success of the initial strike, while leaving open the option of further action if required.
The Trump administration has not publicly detailed the legal basis for either the military operation or its plan to administer Venezuela. While the United States does not recognise Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president, international law experts note that non-recognition does not automatically confer authority to invade or govern another state.
The episode has drawn immediate comparisons with the 1990 US invasion of Panama, which resulted in the capture of Manuel Noriega, though Washington at the time stopped short of declaring it would administer the country.
