In a stunning address from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will temporarily take control of Venezuela following the overnight capture of socialist leader Nicolás Maduro.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” Trump told reporters Friday afternoon, describing what he called “one of the most successful and bloodless missions in U.S. military history.”
According to the president, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were seized “in the dead of night” during a U.S.-led strike that crippled the Venezuelan military. Explosions rocked Caracas as special forces executed what Trump said was a “surgical operation” that ended decades of dictatorship.
Trump said the United States would oversee Venezuela’s transition back to democracy, adding that American troops could remain in the country as long as needed.
“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to,” Trump declared. “We had boots on the ground last night, at a very high level, actually.”
Trump confirmed that U.S. personnel will secure Venezuela’s oil facilities, signaling a return of American energy companies expelled under Maduro. “We’re going to have a presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil,” he said. “They were pumping almost nothing. That’s going to change fast.”
Standing beside Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Trump declared a new foreign policy vision.
“They used to call it the Monroe Doctrine,” he said with a grin. “Now they call it the Don-roe Doctrine.”
Trump brushed off criticism that U.S. occupation violated his “America First” pledge. “We’re going to run the country right. Very judiciously. Very fairly,” he said.
The president also hinted at compensation for Venezuelans who fled to the United States. “We’re going to reimburse people who were taken advantage of,” he promised. “We have to rebuild their whole infrastructure.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that Maduro and his wife were indicted in the Southern District of New York on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges first filed in 2020.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil,” Bondi said in a post on X.
Trump said the pair were being transported aboard the USS Iwo Jima, the same ship used for high-level detainee transfers in past U.S. operations. “They’ll be heading to New York,” Trump told Fox & Friends earlier in the day. “The helicopters took them out. They killed a lot of people, remember.”
The U.S. president said his administration is now deciding who will lead Venezuela during the transition. Opposition figure María Corina Machado, who won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, may not be the final choice.
“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump said, “but she doesn’t have the respect in Venezuela.”
Rubio has reportedly been in contact with Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez. “She’s willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump said.
The fall of Maduro ends more than two decades of socialist rule that began with Hugo Chávez in 1999. Venezuela’s collapse under Maduro sparked one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern Latin American history, with over seven million people fleeing the country.
Trump’s team insists the U.S. mission will restore prosperity. “What we’re going to accomplish will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe,” Trump vowed.
As the flames of Caracas faded Friday morning, one thing was clear: Washington isn’t just watching Latin America anymore — it’s running it.
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