Nicolás Maduro arrives in New York after capture by US forces

A plane carrying deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro arrives in New York following his capture by the US. Maduro and his wife, captured overnight from their home, will face criminal charges in New York (AP video by Ted Shaffrey)

BY NEWS BLEND 360

Updated 8:25 PM EST, January 3, 2026

Just hours after a dramatic military operation removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power and took him out of the country on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would temporarily “run” Venezuela and utilize its vast oil reserves for sale to other nations.

The U.S. actions on Saturday marked America’s most forceful effort to enact regime change in a country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. These actions raise significant new questions about the legality of the U.S. measures within a broader campaign against the South American nation.

The pre-dawn capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were taken on a U.S. warship and arrived in New York on Saturday evening to face narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, surpasses even the most notable historical instances of aggressive American actions against autocratic governments in Panama, Iraq, and beyond, according to legal experts. This followed an unexpected U.S. incursion into the Venezuelan capital, which was rocked by overnight explosions early Saturday.

The Trump administration justified the operation — along with earlier deadly strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea — as necessary to curb the flow of dangerous drugs.

Here’s what we know:

• Capture follows months of pressure: The operation was the culmination of a push inside the administration led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other like-minded foes of Maduro who have been urging Trump to take action against the Venezuelan leader for years.

• Trump says U.S. officials such as Rubio, Hegseth and Caine will run Venezuela: Trump claimed the U.S. government would help run the country and was already doing so, though there were no immediate signs of that. When asked during a press conference who would be running the country until a transition of power can take place, Trump said, “the people that are standing right behind me” are going to be running it “for a period of time.”

• How the US captured Maduro: Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at Trump’s news conference that U.S. forces had rehearsed their maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was and what he ate, as well as details of his pets and the clothes he wore. Trump said on Fox that U.S. forces had practiced their extraction on a replica building.