President Donald Trump struck a triumphant tone over the capture of Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, saying he had watched live as US forces captured the Venezuelan leader from a “fortress.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I could see it in real time,” the 79-year-old Republican said in a phone interview with Fox News.
“I saw it, literally, as if I were watching a television show. And if you had seen the speed, the violence.”
Trump said no American soldiers were killed in the dramatic operation and added that the Venezuelan president and his wife had been taken to a ship and would later be sent to New York, where they face drug and terrorism charges.
The US president, who is at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, said he spoke with Maduro a week ago and told him “you have to surrender.”
He added that the United States would not allow anyone to take power where Maduro “left him,” while evading whether he would endorse Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Machado to be the next president.
Trump gave a detailed description of the operation in which the United States launched airstrikes against Venezuela before special forces captured the leftist leader, at the climax of a months-long pressure campaign.
He said he originally gave the go-ahead for the operation to capture Maduro four days ago but due to weather issues it was delayed until Saturday.
“It was just incredible,” Trump said. “I was in a very guarded place. […] In fact, it looks like a fortress. I was in a fortress.
“It had steel doors, it had what they call a security space where everything is solid steel. He didn’t close that space, he was trying to get in, but they rushed him so quickly that he couldn’t get in.
“We were prepared with huge blowtorches to cut through the steel, but we didn’t need them.”
“We are not going to let them pressure us”
Trump added that it was “surprising” that no U.S. forces were killed, adding that “a couple of guys got hit, but they came back and are supposed to be in pretty good shape.”
A US helicopter was also damaged but flew away, he added.
Trump said the attack on Venezuela “sends a signal that we are no longer going to be pressured as a country” and warned Mexico that he too needed to crack down on drug traffickers.
U.S. officials added to the triumphalism, while downplaying concerns about whether the operation to capture a foreign leader was legal.
“You can’t avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas,” said Vice President JD Vance in X.
He said Trump had given the Venezuelan leader “multiple off-ramps” and added that Maduro was the “newest person to discover that President Trump means what he says.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had been indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges including “narcoterrorist conspiracy”, conspiracy to import cocaine and machine gun charges.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi said on X.
The accusation against Maduro was filed in 2020, while the accusation against his wife was not previously known.
In August, the Trump administration doubled the reward for information leading to his capture to $50 million, accusing him of leading the alleged “Cartel of the Suns” drug trafficking organization.
Trump has made different arguments for his campaign against Venezuela, including claiming that the country is a major drug exporter to the United States and that Venezuela seized American oil interests.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposted a message on social media from earlier this year saying Maduro was not Venezuela’s legitimate president following an election that international observers say was plagued by irregularities.
Maduro’s capture, along with the US attacks on Nigeria on Christmas Day, also came despite Trump presenting himself as a “peace president” who should win the Nobel Prize.
When asked by reporters on New Year’s Eve what his 2026 resolution was, Trump responded: “Peace on Earth.”
