The United States will govern Venezuela and control its oil production following the capture of its leader, Nicolás Maduro, in a “spectacular assault,” President Donald Trump said in an address to the nation on Saturday.
He also said that the United States will rebuild the country’s oil infrastructure and “get the oil flowing again.” The wealth extracted from the ground, he said, will go to the people of Venezuela, to those who have been forced to flee the country, and “to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country.”
When pressed by reporters on exactly who would run the country, Trump said the “people who are standing right behind me” would be strongly involved—meaning Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine.
The United States wants peace and justice for Venezuelans, Trump said, including those living in the United States who had to flee their home country under Maduro’s leadership.
The United States has accused Maduro of running a “narco-state” and of rigging the last presidential election. Maduro, however, has claimed that the United States wants to take control of its oil reserves—the largest in the world.
Maduro was captured “in the dead of night” during “one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might,” the president said. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured from their military compound by U.S. special forces and flown out of the country.
The president said overwhelming American military power on “air, land, and sea” was used to launch the operation in the capital city of Caracas early on Saturday morning. Venezuela's military was “rendered powerless” and not a single American service member was killed in the special operation.
Trump described Maduro as an “illegitimate dictator” and the “kingpin of a vast criminal network,” who is responsible for the deaths of countless Americans. The Venezuelan leader and his wife have been indicted in the Southern District of New York and will face drugs and weapons charges, according to the Trump administration.
“Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil,” Trump said.
Gen. Dan Caine thanked the U.S. military for flawlessly executing the “audacious operation,” adding that the operation took months of planning and intelligence gathering.
“There’s simply no match for American military might,” Caine said on Saturday, revealing that the measure involved more than 150 aircraft.
The United States has not executed such a military intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama to remove military leader Manuel Noriega in 1989.
Maduro’s capture comes after a months-long pressure campaign against the Venezuelan leader that included a U.S. military buildup and lethal strikes on suspected drug vessels in the region.