- President Donald Trump said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country following U.S. military strikes, according to a Truth Social post.
- Trump said U.S. law enforcement was involved and announced a press conference to provide details, while no independent confirmation was issued.
President Donald Trump said early Saturday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and removed from the country following U.S. military strikes in Venezuela, according to a post on his Truth Social account.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader,” Trump wrote, confirming U.S. military action and stating that Maduro and his wife were “captured and flown out of the Country.” Trump said U.S. law enforcement was involved in the operation but did not specify which agencies took part or how the arrests were conducted.
The statement marked the first public confirmation by the U.S. president that American forces were directly involved in removing Venezuela’s sitting head of state. Trump did not disclose the timing or location of the capture, nor did he identify the destination to which Maduro and his wife were taken.
Maduro has been under U.S. indictment since 2020, when American prosecutors charged him in an alleged narcoterrorism case. The indictment accused Maduro of conspiring with armed groups involved in drug trafficking, allegations his government has repeatedly denied. Trump did not reference the indictment directly in his post but confirmed that U.S. law enforcement participated in the operation.
The announcement followed a series of reported U.S. military strikes across Venezuela targeting air defenses, command centers, air bases, and other government-linked facilities. Trump’s statement was the first to directly link those strikes to the reported capture of Venezuela’s president.
No immediate confirmation was provided by Venezuelan authorities regarding Maduro’s status or whereabouts. The Venezuelan government had earlier accused the United States of conducting what it described as “very serious military aggression” and called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, without addressing Trump’s claim of a capture.
Trump said additional details would be provided later Saturday during a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. ET at Mar-a-Lago. The White House did not issue a separate statement elaborating on the president’s remarks or confirming operational details.
The reported capture of a foreign head of state during an active U.S. military operation represents a rare development in modern U.S. foreign policy.