Trump says US to run Venezuela as Maduro brought to New York after capture
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American forces had captured Maduro early on Saturday morning after launching a large-scale strike on the South American country
Maduro, wife have been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses; Trump said the US will look to tap Venezuela's massive oil reserves.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said the US actions constituted an attempt at regime change to capture country's oil and natural resources.
Venezuela's attorney general said civilians were killed in the military strikes. Delcy Rodríguez said Venezuela stands ready to defend those resources.
(Web Desk) - Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife landed at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, New York, on Saturday afternoon.
They have been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses.
The US launched a wide-scale “air, land and sea” military attack on Venezuela early Saturday involving at least 150 aircraft.
Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country. President Donald Trump said the US is “going to run” Venezuela following Maduro’s capture “until such time as a safe, proper and judicious transition can take place.”
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said on state TV that the US actions constituted an attempt at regime change in an effort to capture the country’s oil and natural resources.
She later added that Venezuela stands ready to defend those resources.
Trump said the U.S. will look to tap Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.
Venezuela’s attorney general said innocent civilians were killed in the military strikes on several facilities in Caracas and the area. Sources told NBC News that some U.S. troops were also injured and are stable.
Earlier, addressing a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said, “No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday,” he said.
“All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of the US military, working with law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night.”
Trump added that the US would “run the country” until a safe, proper and judicious transition takes place.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
“We don‘t want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last, long period of years,” the US president said. “So we’re going to run the country, until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. We’re going to run it, essentially.”
He added that the US is ready to launch a second and much larger wave of attacks if needed, adding that Washington assumed a second wave would be necessary.
“The first wave … was so successful we probably don‘t have to do a second, but we’re prepared to do a second wave, a much bigger wave,” Trump stated.
Trump says President Maduro captured after US strikes on Venezuela
Continuing his address, Trump said that Venezuela’s oil industry “was a bust” and that US oil companies would come in, repair the oil infrastructure and “start making money for the country”.
In a Truth Social post earlier today, Trump wrote: “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.
