ADDS MORE REMARKS BY TRUMP; CHANGES DECK
By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - 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.
- 'Maduro, wife taken to New York'
Later, speaking to Fox News, Trump said there have "a few injuries but no death on our side."
On the capture of Maduro, he said it was "amazing to see the professionalism — the quality of leadership ... Amazing."
"I've never seen anything like this. I was able to watch it in real time, and I watched every aspect of it," Trump said.
Trump also said one helicopter was hit "pretty hard" during the attacks, but that the US did not lose any aircraft as it "came back."
The US is going to be "very strongly involved" in Venezuela's oil industry, Trump stressed.
"We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we're going to be very much involved in it," he said.
Trump has criticized the Venezuelan government seizure of foreign oil companies that declined to give state-owned PDVSA majority control.
Trump also highlighted that during the strike, the US was “prepared to do a second wave. We were all set,” but added that the first “was so lethal, this was so powerful, that we didn't have to.”
Despite earlier statements that the US would no longer take part in “nation building,” Trump suggested that the US may play a direct role in shaping Venezuela’s future following the "removal" of Maduro, saying the administration is still deciding next steps.
"We're making that decision now. We can't take a chance on letting somebody else run it and just take over where he left off," he said.
Trump said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores were taken to a ship after their capture and will be transported to New York.
"They're on a ship, and they'll be heading into New York... They went by helicopter on a nice flight. I'm sure they loved it," he said.
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.”
- Maduro to 'finally face justice for his crimes'
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 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.