US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Washington carried out a "large-scale strike" against Venezuela, and that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured and flown out of the country.
"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," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
Trump said the operation was done "in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement."
He said additional details would be released later, and a news conference would be held at 11 am (1600GMT) at his Mar-a-Lago residence in the US state of Florida.
Separately, in a brief telephone interview with the New York Times, Trump hailed the success of the strike.
"A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people," the Times quoted Trump as saying.
"It was a brilliant operation, actually," he added.
Asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those matters during the news conference.
Vice President JD Vance, for his part, defended the Venezuela operation and praised US forces. He said the administration had offered Maduro multiple opportunities to de-escalate but remained firm on its demands.
"The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States," Vance said on US social media company X.
"Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says. Kudos to our brave special operators who pulled off a truly impressive operation."
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Maduro will "finally face justice for his crimes."
"A new dawn for Venezuela! The tyrant is gone. He will now—finally—face justice for his crimes," Landau on X.
The attacks came after months of tension as the US accused Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking.
The US Army's Delta Force, an elite special forces unit, carried out the operation to capture Maduro, CBS News reported, citing officials.
US Sen. Mike Lee said Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him that Maduro has been arrested to stand trial on criminal charges in the US.
Lee said Rubio "anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody."
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York on multiple criminal charges, including "narco-terrorism."
"They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts," Bondi said.
Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said they are "unaware" of Maduro's whereabouts, demanding from Trump "proof of life" of the president.
Following the attack, Rubio posted an image of an earlier X message of his calling Maduro the head of a "narco-terror organization."
"Maduro is not the president of Venezuela and his regime is not the legitimate government. Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States," he said.
In November, the US formally designated the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. "I hereby designate the aforementioned organization and its respective aliases as a Foreign Terrorist Organization," Rubio had said in a document published in the country's Federal Register.
