Moment Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips tells audience ‘this morning Venezuela is an American colony’

This is the moment Sky News presenter Trevor Phillips told his viewers ‘this morning Venezuela is an American colony’.

On Saturday, U.S. Army Delta Force soldiers captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on drug trafficking charges and extradited them to New York.

President Donald Trump said he “appointed people” from his cabinet to serve in Venezuela, a country of 30 million people, but did not provide further details.

In another surprise, Trump indicated that US troops could be deployed, saying Washington was ‘not afraid of boots on the ground’.

Maduro’s arrest came after US forces struck Caracas over Trump’s accusations that Maduro was the leader of the Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Sun) drug trafficking operation and that Venezuela was flooding the US with drugs and gang members.

Trevor Phillips, whose family is from Venezuela’s neighboring country Guyana, began his Sky News broadcast this morning with a personal take on yesterday’s chaos.

Addressing television viewers, he said: ‘Forgive me if I start 2026 on a personal note.

‘To all intents and purposes, this morning Venezuela is an American colony. I have mixed feelings about this.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is pictured after being captured in a photo shared by President Donald Trump on the website TruthSocial.

The US President did not provide many details about the logistics of governing Venezuela, but suggested that the country’s vast oil reserves would provide funds for Venezuela’s revitalization.

‘No matter what the White House says, I don’t think this is actually about drugs; It’s about oil.’

The 72-year-old newsreader and former Labor politician, who previously served as Speaker of the London Assembly and chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, told “all the details” about his early life living with his family in Guyana, where he grew up, went to school and “learned to use a rifle”.

He gave historical context to Venezuela’s almost two-decade-old claim to the Essequibo region, more than half of Guyana’s territory.

‘My generation grew up preparing for an invasion, but I don’t think anyone really thought we would be fighting over impenetrable rainforests and then in 2015 American companies would be drilling for oil in Guyanese waters,’ he said.

Mr Phillips declared that the discovery of 30 billion barrels was ‘one of the largest oil finds in decades’.

This was ‘unsurprisingly’ followed by Caracas’ renewed enthusiasm for Guyanese territory; The map of Venezuela shown to school children was redrawn to include Essequibo.

“So I don’t think there’s a lot of doubt about what’s driving Mr. Trump’s military adventure,” Mr. Phillips continued.

‘He wants to protect America’s vast oil interests in the region and feed his refineries with Venezuelan crude, and if that means upending the international rules-based order, I don’t think Mr Trump will be too bothered.

Almost 24 hours after he was captured by US troops, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro spotted a suspect walking down the corridor of an official building in Manhattan.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia were captured by a US military unit in the early hours of Caracas. Trump said Saturday afternoon that both would face criminal charges in New York

‘After all, American presidents, including Democrats like Kennedy and Obama, have always been clear on one thing; The first rule of the rules-based order is that America makes the rules to suit America.’

Maduro and Flores are currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which is notorious for its poor conditions and is also home to Luigi Mangione and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

Trump said the US would rule Venezuela indefinitely in the meantime, after ruling out the possibility of the country’s popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado taking the reins, claiming she ‘lacked the support’.

The US President did not provide many details about the logistics of governing Venezuela, but suggested that the country’s vast oil reserves would provide funds for Venezuela’s revitalization.

Trump on Saturday said he did not inform Congress about plans to kidnap Maduro, claiming that if he had done so the news would have “leaked” and potentially helped the Venezuelan leader evade capture.

Maduro’s capture caused joy among Venezuelan immigrants living outside their country on Saturday.

Hundreds of people took to the streets of cities, including Santiago in Chile, to celebrate the ouster of a leader seen as a corrupt authoritarian accused of destroying his oil-rich country’s economy while silencing dissent.

In Caracas, the atmosphere seemed altogether quieter.

Locals were photographed queuing outside supermarkets out of fear that Maduro’s ouster would lead to even greater economic uncertainty.

Shortly before Saturday’s press conference, the president shared an undignified photo of Maduro in sweatpants after his capture.

Trump has said the US will rule Venezuela indefinitely, after ruling out the possibility of the country’s popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado (pictured) taking the reins, claiming she ‘lacks the support’.

Venezuelans living in Chile celebrated the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in Santiago on Saturday

Government supporters burned a US flag in Caracas, Venezuela, on Saturday after Donald Trump announced that US forces had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

He said the wife of the Venezuelan President would also be charged, but did not provide further details.

Maduro was photographed wearing a heavy black plastic eye mask and headphones over his ears in an attempt to keep his location secret from him.

He was wearing a gray tracksuit and holding a plastic water bottle in his hand. It is unclear whether this is the clothing Maduro was wearing when he was kidnapped or whether it was given to him by US forces.

While CNN commentators suggested it was chosen to humiliate the corrupt leader, the photo was a far cry from his usual appearance in a sharp suit or military fatigues.

Speaking at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, Trump told reporters that the Venezuelan first lady was part of her husband’s alleged plans and that he, too, would face criminal charges in Manhattan.

“Maduro and his wife will soon face the full force of American justice,” Trump said.

It is claimed that the Maduros were afraid of being caught by US forces and started sleeping in a different place every night.

Their whereabouts were being successfully tracked by CIA spies, and Trump gave the green light to the operation to capture them on Thursday.

Earlier Saturday, U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi announced that Maduro will face drug and weapons trafficking charges filed in 2020 during Trump’s first term in office.

Five other Venezuelan officials face the same charges. However, the First Lady is not among these names and it is not yet known what kind of accusations she will face.

Speaking alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump said the operation to capture Maduro was one of the bravest operations in military history.

Shortly after 2 a.m. Venezuelan time on Saturday morning, Delta Force soldiers burst into the Maduros’ bedroom and captured them.

A source told the network that the operation, which hit five Venezuelan facilities, including three in the country’s capital, Caracas, did not result in any casualties.

He hailed the operation as “wonderful” in a brief interview with the New York Times earlier on Saturday.

The president later called into Fox News’ breakfast show Fox & Friends and excitedly told the hosts: ‘I mean, I literally watched it like I was watching a television show. If you could see the speed and intensity, it was incredible.’

The daring raid saw explosions wreak havoc on Caracas; Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab insisted that ‘innocents’ were ‘fatally injured’ in the US operation.

Venezuela has not yet shared further details on whether any of its soldiers or citizens were injured or killed during the raid.