US Plans To ‘Run’ Venezuela And Tap Its Oil Reserves, Trump Says, After Operation To Oust Maduro

The dramatic action capped the Trump administration’s intense pressure campaign and months of secret planning against the South American nation and its autocratic leader, culminating in America’s most ambitious action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Speaking to reporters hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump announced plans to exploit the leadership vacuum to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “massive quantities” of oil to other countries.

In his speech, Venezuela’s vice president demanded that the United States release Maduro and called him the true leader of the country.

Maduro and his wife, who were detained overnight from their home on a military base, were aboard a U.S. warship bound for New York to stand trial on a Justice Department indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

Although the operation’s legal authority was not immediately clear, the Trump administration described it and previous deadly attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea as necessary to stem the flow of dangerous drugs.

Trump also claimed that the US government would help run the country and had already done so, but there was no immediate sign of that. Venezuelan state television continued to broadcast pro-Maduro propaganda and broadcast live footage of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest.

“We will govern until we can achieve a safe, appropriate and reasonable transition,” Trump said at the Mar-a-Lago press conference, boasting that this “highly successful operation should serve as a warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.”

Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy charges in 2020, but the Justice Department on Saturday issued a new indictment against Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, painting the regime as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug trafficking operation that flooded the United States with cocaine. The US government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.

Trump posted a photo on social media showing Maduro in sweatpants and blindfolded aboard the USS Iwo Jima.

The early morning strike The operation followed months of efforts by the Trump administration to pressure the Venezuelan leader, including a massive buildup of American forces in waters off South America and attacks on boats accused of transporting drugs in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike on a docking area believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels; This was the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the United States began attacks in September.

Maduro has previously condemned military operations as a thinly veiled effort to remove him from power.

The Venezuela operation, which comes 36 years after the 1990 US invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and capture of leader Manuel Antonio Noriega, unfolded under cover of darkness on Saturday, with Trump saying the US had turned off “almost all the lights” in the capital Caracas and forces were moving to remove Maduro and his wife.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had been rehearsing maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was, what he ate, as well as details about his pets and clothing.

“We think, we develop, we practice, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse over and over again,” Caine said. “Not to get it right, but to make sure we can’t get it wrong.”

Multiple explosions were heard and low-flying planes flew over Caracas early on Saturday. Maduro’s government accused the United States of attacking civilian and military facilities, calling it an “imperialist attack” and calling on citizens to take to the streets.

The attack lasted less than 30 minutes and explosions (at least seven explosions) sent people into the streets while others reported what they saw and heard on social media. Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said some Venezuelan civilians and military members were killed, without giving figures. Trump said some US forces were injured but none died.

Video from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed trails and smoke blurring the landscape as repeated silent explosions lit up the night sky. Other images showed cars passing on the highway as explosions illuminated the hills behind them. The videos have been verified by the Associated Press.

While smoke was rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, another military facility in the capital was seen to be without electricity.

According to Venezuelan law, Rodriguez would take over from Maduro. But Rodriguez made clear in a statement to state television on Saturday that he did not plan to come to power. He called for Maduro’s release and declared him president.

“There is only one president in Venezuela and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros,” he said.

Some streets of Caracas packed Venezuela’s ruling party has been in power since Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, took office in 1999; He promised to raise up the poor people and then, in his own words, implement a socialist revolution.

Maduro took over when Chavez died in 2013. His re-election in 2018 was widely considered a fraud, with the main opposition parties barred from participating. During the 2024 election, election officials loyal to the ruling party declared him the winner hours after the polls closed, but the opposition gathered overwhelming evidence that he lost by a margin of more than 2 to 1.

In a demonstration that showed what a polarizing figure Maduro is, people took to the streets in various ways to protest and celebrate his capture.

At a protest in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined the crowd demanding the return of Maduro.

“Maduro, wait, the people are rising!” the crowd chanted. “We’re here, Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we’re here!”

Earlier, gunmen and uniformed members of civilian militias had taken to the streets of the Caracas neighborhood, long considered a stronghold of the ruling party.

In other parts of the city, the streets remained empty after the attack and citizens absorbed the events. Some areas remained without electricity, but vehicles moved freely.

“How do I feel? I’m scared like everyone else,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, sitting on an empty street looking at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up in fear, many families could not sleep.”

In Santiago, Chile’s capital, people waved Venezuelan flags and banged pots and pans as vehicles honked their horns.

In Doral, Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, people wrapped Venezuelan flags, ate fried snacks and cheered as music played. At one point the crowd chanted “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”

Legality issues Some legal experts have expressed immediate concerns about the legality of the operation.

Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have expressed reservations and openly objected to U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling near the Venezuelan coast. Congress has not specifically authorized the use of military force for such operations in the region.

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he saw no evidence that would justify Trump attacking Venezuela without Congressional approval and demanded an immediate briefing from the administration on its “plan to stabilize the region and the legal justification for that decision.”

Congressional leaders were not notified by the Trump administration until the early hours of Saturday morning after the start of military action, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said was necessary to preserve the integrity of the operation.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called it “a determined and justified operation that will protect American lives” and said the Trump administration was working to schedule briefings.