In this article:
Operation Absolute Resolve
On Jan. 3, 2026 President Donald J. Trump announced the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, following a successful overnight joint U.S. military extraction in Venezuela’s capital of Caracas.
“Last night and early today, at my direction, the United States armed forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. … It was an operation against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro to justice,” Trump said during a midday news conference from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
As explained by Matthew Olay, Pentagon News, in the article Trump Announces U.S. Military’s Capture of Maduro appeared on U.S. Department of War website, the president added that both Maduro and his also-captured wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro, will now face criminal court proceedings tied to a 2020 indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice on multiple federal charges, including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.
Earlier in the day, Trump posted a photo to social media showing a blindfolded and handcuffed Nicolás Maduro in custody aboard the U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima.
Labeled Operation Absolute Resolve, the joint military and law enforcement mission to capture the Maduros was the result of months of planning and rehearsal involving U.S. joint forces — including special operations forces — from multiple service branches. The military also networked extensively with multiple U.S. intelligence agencies, according to Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“Our interagency work began months ago and built on decades of experience [with] integrating complex air, ground, space and maritime operations. … We watched, we waited, we prepared, we remained patient and professional. … This was an audacious operation that only the United States could do,” Caine said during the press conference.
150 Military Aircraft covering Operation Absolute Resolve
He added that the mission to extract the Maduros — in which there were no U.S. casualties — was so precise that it involved more than 150 military aircraft from all across the Western Hemisphere launching in close coordination to provide cover for the ground-based extraction force in Caracas.
With Maduro now out of power, Trump said the U.S. will oversee Venezuela until a safe transition to a legitimate replacement for the deposed strongman can be identified.
The president added that, while it was his understanding that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez was “just sworn in” [to the presidency] following Maduro’s ouster, Rodriguez seemed willing to work with the U.S. to achieve what’s best for Venezuelans.
The capture of the Maduros represents a culmination of tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela dating as far back as 1998, with the election of President Hugo Chavez, a Venezuelan socialist who espoused anti-U.S. rhetoric and formed close ties with Cuba, Iran and Russia.
Following the death of Chavez in 2013, Nicolás Maduro took over and became increasingly politically hostile toward the U.S. as the years progressed.
Tensions between the two countries increased significantly beginning in September of 2025, when the Trump administration began conducting targeted boat strikes on vessels deemed to be conducting narco-terrorism by attempting to smuggle illegal drugs into the U.S.
Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters flying overhead
In November 2025, the State Department declared Venezuela’s state-embedded criminal network Cartel de los Soles — which is alleged to have been headed by Maduro — as a terror organization.
According to CNN, a source familiar with the matter said that CIA identified Maduro’s location several days ago and then Trump approved the operation. The president authorized the agency months earlier to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. Commandos of Delta Force seized Maduro. Delta Force is the elite US unit that also carried out the 2019 raid that killed Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Residents of Caracas spotted Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters flying overhead. As reported by Militarnyi.com, about ten helicopters were spotted in the sky heading toward the capital Caracas after ten explosions were reported in Caracas.
Strikes on targets in Venezuela, mainly military targets (including Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda airbase, where army aviation is based in Caracas), were ordered by Trump, CBS News senior White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs reported.
One helicopter hit
In November 2025, Trump ordered the complete closure of the airspace over and around Venezuela. Furthermore, Washington deployed both CV-22 Osprey tiltrotors and MC-130J Commando II multimission combat transport/special operations tanker closer to Venezuela in December.
Trump told Fox News some Americans were injured when a helicopter was hit during the meticulously planned operation.
“That we had nobody killed was amazing. I think we had nobody killed, I have to say, because a couple of guys were hit, but they came back and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape,” Trump said.
He added that there were “a few injuries” without further elaborating.
The president claimed that no aircraft were lost, but said one helicopter was hit “pretty hard” during the raid.
The photo of Maduro featured below was posted on social media with the caption “It’s time to move to New York.”
Photo credit: U.S. Navy and U.S. Department of War
