At a press conference on January 3, President Donald Trump announced the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro following a successful overnight joint U.S. military/U.S. law enforcement extraction in Venezuela's capital city of Caracas.
“Last night and early today, at my direction, the United States armed forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. It was an operation against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro to justice,” Trump said during a midday news conference from his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida.
President Trump noted that both Maduro and his also-captured wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro, will now face criminal court proceedings on multiple federal charges, including narco-terrorism, conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons offenses.
President Trump had earlier posted a photo to social media showing a blindfolded and handcuffed Maduro in custody aboard the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima.
Called “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the Pentagon noted that the joint military and law enforcement mission to capture the Maduros was the result of months of planning and rehearsal involving U.S. joint forces, including special operations forces, from multiple service branches. The military also networked extensively with multiple U.S. intelligence agencies, according to Air Force General John Daniel 'Raizin' Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"Our interagency work began months ago and built on decades of experience with integrating complex air, ground, space and maritime operations,” General Caine said. “We watched, we waited, we prepared, we remained patient and professional. This was an audacious operation that only the United States could do."
According to General Caine, the mission was so precise that it involved more than 150 military aircraft from all across the Western Hemisphere launching in close coordination to provide cover for the ground-based extraction force in Caracas. There were no casualties.
“Words can barely capture the bravery and the power and the precision of this historic operation, a massive joint military and law enforcement raid flawlessly executed by the greatest Americans our country has to offer,” said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who was also at the press conference.
“What I witnessed last night was sheer guts and grit, gallantry and glory of the American warrior. This is about the safety, security, freedom and prosperity of the American people. This is America first; this is peace through strength; and the United States War Department is proud to help deliver it,” Hegseth said.
According to the Pentagon, the capture of the Maduros represents a culmination of tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela dating as far back as 1998, with the election of President Hugo Chavez, a Venezuelan socialist who espoused anti-U.S. rhetoric and formed close ties with Cuba, Iran and Russia. Following the death of Chavez in 2013, Nicolás Maduro took over and became increasingly politically hostile toward the U.S. as the years progressed.
Tensions between the two countries increased significantly beginning in September of 2025, when the Trump administration began conducting targeted boat strikes on vessels deemed to be conducting narco-terrorism by attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the U.S.
In November 2025, the State Department declared Venezuela's state-embedded criminal network Cartel de los Soles — which is alleged to have been headed by Maduro — as a terror organization.
On January 4th, Attorney General Pam Bondi fronted a joint statement from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration about the Maduro arrest.
“The Department of Justice, working in close coordination with the Department of War, the Department of State, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Intelligence Community, and our interagency and international partners, successfully executed a complex law-enforcement mission to bring Nicolás Maduro into U.S. custody to face justice,” the joint statement read. “This operation required months of coordination, detailed planning, and seamless execution across multiple components of the federal government. The Department of War led this remarkable effort. We cannot thank our brave military heroes enough. Specialized FBI and DEA personnel, including tactical and transport teams, worked alongside DOW and our DOJ attorneys and other DOJ components to ensure the secure movement, control, and transfer of 2 high-risk defendants.
“All personnel involved acted professionally, decisively, and in strict accordance with U.S. law and established protocols. This was a perfectly executed operation with intensive cooperation and trust among President Trump’s team. The mission was conducted to support an ongoing criminal prosecution tied to large-scale narcotics trafficking and related offenses that have fueled violence, destabilized the region, and contributed directly to the drug crisis claiming American lives. The United States pursued every lawful option to resolve this matter peacefully. Those opportunities were repeatedly rejected. The responsibility for this outcome rests solely with those who chose to continue criminal conduct rather than disengage.”
