Caracas (CNN) — President Donald Trump has declared that the U.S. is going to “run” Venezuela and will take over its oil production following the U.S. military strike and capture of Venezuela’s President Maduro and his wife. Trump held a noontime news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort with Defense Secretary Hegseth, Secretary of State Rubio and Joint Chief’s Chairman Dan Caine. Trump had taken to social media early Saturday morning to reveal that the U.S. carried out a “large scale strike against Venezuela” and that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife had been captured, a stunning development that plunged the country into uncertainty after weeks of spiraling tensions.
“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country,” Trump posted on social media.
At times during the news conference Trump appeared to be struggling to keep his eyes open and while reading a prepared speech hesitated at times and at other times went off-script.
Venezuela requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to the attack, Foreign Minister Yván Gil Pinto said.
“No cowardly attack will prevail against the strength of this people, who will emerge victorious,” he said on Telegram, sharing the letter sent to the U.N.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said in an audio call with state-run VTV that the government doesn’t know the whereabouts of Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores, demanding “immediate proof of life” from the Trump administration. She was sworn in as president of Venezuela and in a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said she would do whatever the U.S. wants her to do, according to Rubio.
What has happened?
A CNN team witnessed several explosions and heard the sounds of aircraft early Saturday in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity.
Videos verified by CNN showed helicopters roaring over Caracas, with plumes of smoke rising into the night sky. Footage also showed a large blaze and explosions at an airport in the city of Higuerote.
Hours after the strikes, CNN’s Mary Mena said from Caracas that the capital was calm.
“We listened to many airplanes and helicopters passing by, but right now the city remains quiet, for the past two hours,” she said. “We haven’t heard people for example coming to the streets, and the state channel keeps repeating this message from the ministry of defense saying they want people to remain calm and they will deploy military forces across the country.”
The first blast witnessed by the CNN team was recorded at approximately 1:50 a.m. local time (12:50 a.m. ET).
“One was so strong, my window was shaking after it,” CNN correspondent Osmary Hernandez said.
Several areas of the city were without power, and CNN journalists in the capital heard the sound of aircraft after the explosions.
One video obtained and verified by CNN showed two plumes of smoke rising into the night sky amid city lights. An orange glow could be seen at the base of one of the plumes. Then a flash in another location was briefly seen, followed by a dull booming sound.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that Maduro and his wife were dragged from their bedroom by US forces during the raid that led to their capture. The couple was captured in the middle of the night as they were sleeping, the sources said.
The raid, carried out by the U.S. Army’s elite Delta Force, did not lead to any U.S. deaths, U.S. officials said.
Why is it happening?
The Trump administration has for years said that Maduro was a criminal and has looked to prosecute him through the U.S. legal system.
In 2020, during Trump’s first term, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York for “narco-terrorism,” conspiracy to import cocaine, and related charges.
The Trump administration offered a $15 million bounty for Maduro’s arrest. That bounty was increased to $25 million in the waning days of the Biden administration, in early January 2025, and was increased again, to $50 million, in August 2025 after Trump took office for a second term and designated Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization. The administration has claimed that Maduro is the leader of that group, which it describes as a criminal organization.
“(Rubio) informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” Utah Sen. Mike Lee posted on the internet early Saturday.
In recent weeks, Trump had repeatedly warned that the U.S. was preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela and that strikes on land will start “soon.”
Trump’s pressure campaign on Maduro has included strikes destroying more than 30 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in what the U.S. has described as a counter-narcotics campaign. Trump last month ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela.
The CIA carried out a drone strike in December on a port facility on the coast of Venezuela, CNN reported last month, citing sources, marking the first known U.S. attack on a target inside that country.
How has the international community reacted?
Several world leaders have reacted with concern to the U.S. operation.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he “wants to establish the facts” and speak to Trump about the military operation in Venezuela, according to the UK’s PA Media news agency.
“I always say and believe we should all uphold international law,” Starmer said, adding that Britain was “not involved in any way” in the strike on Caracas, PA Media reported.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said in a post on X that the commission “stand(s) by the people of Venezuela and support(s) a peaceful and democratic transition. Any solution must respect international law and the U.N. Charter.”
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s allies Russia and Iran condemned the U.S. attack.
The Russian foreign ministry denounced what it called an “act of armed aggression against Venezuela” by the U.S., calling any “excuses” given to justify such actions “untenable.”
“We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and our support for the Bolivarian leadership’s course of action aimed at protecting the country’s national interests and sovereignty,” a statement from the foreign ministry said. “Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny without any destructive, let alone military, interference from outside.”
Similarly, the Iranian foreign ministry said the attack violates Venezuela’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the UN charter, Iranian state news outlet Press TV reported.
What comes next?
Article 233 of Venezuela’s Constitution states that in the “absolute absence” of the president, the executive vice president – in the current case Delcy Rodriguez – takes over and calls for an election within 30 days. The newly elected president then serves a full six-year term.
If the current regime collapses and its senior figures resign or flee, the most likely opposition candidate is Edmundo González Urrutia, who ran in the 2024 election. Gonzales, an academic and long-time diplomat, is now in exile in Spain. He is supported by the recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, democratic activist María Corina Machado.
On Saturday, Machado said the time has come for “popular sovereignty” in Venezuela and the installation of González Urrutia as the country’s leader.
“Nicolás Maduro from today faces international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations,” she said in a letter. “Given his refusal to accept a negotiated solution, the government of the United States has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law.”
There could also be a military takeover in Venezuela. But the current defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, has spoken out against the U.S. strikes, saying Venezuela would resist the presence of foreign troops in the country. “This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has suffered,” he said.
Tim Lister, Jennifer Hansler, Alejandra Jaramillo, Isaac Yee, Michael Rios, and Laura Sharman contributed to this report
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