Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been delivered to New York to face “narco-terrorism” charges © X / Breaking911 The US will “run” Venezuela after carrying out a regime-change operation in the oil-rich South American country, President Donald Trump has said. Trump was speaking at a press conference after US forces swooped over the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, early on Saturday. President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured by US special forces in the operation and renditioned on an American warship, where the Venezuelan leader is being held blindfolded and handcuffed. “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” Trump told the media from his Mar-a-Lago resort. “We’re there now… we’re going to stay until such time as a proper transition can take place.” Read more “We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country and we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so. So we were prepared to do a second wave,” Trump added. Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello Rondon has told the country’s troops to “trust the leadership,” while Foreign Minister Yvan Gil has accused Washington of seeking to gain control of the Latin American nation’s natural resources. Numerous videos have emerged of a series of heavy explosions across Caracas. Footage showing attacks in two other parts of the country has also been geolocated. One clip features the outline of several US Chinook military helicopters swooping across the city at low altitude. Read more In a statement, Moscow has condemned the US “aggression,” called for “immediate clarification” on Maduro’s whereabouts and lamented that “ideological hostility has triumphed over businesslike pragmatism.” American Senator Mike Lee announced on his personal X account that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told him that Washington does not foresee any further military operations at this time and that the Venezuelan president will stand trial in the US. Multiple Western countries have expressed “concern” and claimed they are monitoring developments with their diplomatic teams in the Venezuelan capital. Show latestShow oldest 04 January 2026 04:53 GMT Another video posted online shows Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro being brought to the New York office of the Drug Enforcement Administration under escort by DEA Special Response Team operators. Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores being brought to the New York Department of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) under escort of DEA SRT operators. pic.twitter.com/feniZIZtEX — Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) January 4, 2026 Flights over Caribbean airspace will be allowed to resume from midnight Eastern Time after temporary restrictions imposed following US strikes on Venezuela, US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy has said. “The original restrictions around the Caribbean airspace are expiring at 12:00am ET and flights can resume,” Duffy wrote on X, adding that airlines have been informed and will update schedules accordingly. UPDATE: The original restrictions around the Caribbean airspace are expiring at 12:00am ET and flights can resume. Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly. Please continue to work with your airline if your flight was affected by the restrictions. https://t.co/5Cv46Xnjy4 — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) January 4, 2026 Denmark’s ambassador to the US has urged Washington to respect Greenland’s sovereignty after a social media post by US Homeland Security adviser Stephen Miller’s wife sparked concern by depicting Greenland as a US state with the caption “soon.” “Just a friendly reminder about the US and the Kingdom of Denmark: We are close allies and should continue to work together as such. US security is also Greenland’s and Denmark’s security. Greenland is already part of NATO. The Kingdom of Denmark and the United States work together to ensure security in the Arctic,” Jesper Moller Sorensen said. Just a friendly reminder about the US and the Kingdom of Denmark: We are close allies and should continue to work together as such. US security is also Greenland’s and Denmark’s security. Greenland is already part of NATO. The Kingdom of Denmark and the United States work… https://t.co/CboKnlKgJL — Jesper Møller Sørensen 🇩🇰 (@DKambUSA) January 4, 2026 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, which has previously housed high-profile detainees including Ghislaine Maxwell, Sam Bankman-Fried, Michael Cohen, and rapper Sean Combs, also known as P Diddy. Former Federal Bureau of Prisons official Judi Garrett told Fox News Digital she expects Maduro to be placed in a special housing unit upon arrival, noting that MDC Brooklyn has “substantial experience with high-profile defendants.” Members of the media gather outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, January 3, 2026 © AP / Yuki Iwamura New video circulating online show Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stepping onto US soil for the first time earlier on Satruday. The footage shows him in handcuffs, escorted off the aircraft by by a crowd of law enforcement agents. 🚨BREAKING: HUMILIATION: Video of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s first steps off the plane in the United States were just releasedHe looks HORRIBLE and HUMILIATED Maduro can NO LONGER endanger America pic.twitter.com/c9U78nFnrY — The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) January 4, 2026 Venezuela’s Supreme Court has granted Vice President Delcy Rodriguez all presidential powers and ordered her to immediately assume office in an acting capacity, Bloomberg reports. New footage shows captured Nicolas Maduro escorted through a hallway of the DEA headquarters in New York. “Good night. Happy New Year,” the Venezuelan leader can be heard telling the agents and journalists, in a video shared by a Fox News contributor. Maduro perp walk. pic.twitter.com/e1Maaun5EK — Paul Mauro (@PaulDMauro) January 4, 2026
Nicolas Maduro has been brought to the US Drug Enforcement Administration office in New York City.
Venezan President Nicolás Maduro arrives at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in New York City. pic.twitter.com/RDbjTQaaKJ
— THE STATE NEWS (@THESTATENEWSS) January 4, 2026
President Donald Trump has dismissed Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado as a potential national leader, despite the Nobel laureate’s vocal support of the US military operation against her own country.
“I think it’d be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman but she doesn’t have the respect,” Trump told a press conference earlier on Saturday.
Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December, for what the Nobel Committee described as “her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy.” Asked if she backs US military action against her own country, Machado later said she believes “the escalation that’s taking place is the only way to force Maduro to understand that it’s time to go.”
Pete Hegseth has refused to confirm whether US President Donald Trump’s promise to “stay” in Venezuela and “run” means that Washington is prepared to send American boots on the ground.
“It means we set the terms. President Trump sets the terms. And ultimately, he’ll decide what the iterations are of that. But it means the drugs stop flowing, it means the oil that was taken from us is returned, ultimately, and that criminals are not sent to the United States,” he told CBS.
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03 January 2026
08:11 GMT
Venezuela condemns the “serious military aggression” perpetrated against it by the US, the Latin American nation’s foreign minister, Yvan Gil, has said in a statement.
The American strikes targeted civilian and military areas in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, he said.
These actions violate the UN charter, infringe upon Venezuela’s sovereignty, endanger millions of people and threaten stability in the region, Gil stressed.
- 08:20 GMT
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has imposed a state of emergency over the US attack, the Latin American nation’s foreign minister, Yvan Gil, has said in a statement. “The entire country must activate to defeat this imperialist aggression,” he said.
«The objective of this attack is none other than to seize the strategic resources of Venezuela, particularly its oil and minerals… They will not succeed,” Gil insisted.
- 08:22 GMT
The US Embassy in Caracas has issued a Level 4 notice to American citizens, saying: “Do not travel to Venezuela for any reason.”
- 08:32 GMT
US President Donald Trump held a national security meeting at Mar-a-Lago before striking Venezuela, The New York Times has reported.
The White House hasn’t yet confirmed it ordered the strikes.
BREAKING: Reports of explosions in Caracas, Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/sH3Ce1uH9h
— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) January 3, 2026
- 08:44 GMT
The US has hit the Venezuelan parliament building, according to Colombian President Gustavo Petro. At least 11 sites in the country were attacked, he said.
- 08:50 GMT
Footage from Caracas has captured an explosion rocking the Cuartel de la Montana, the resting place of Hugo Chavez, who served as president of Venezuela between 2002 and his death in 2013.
🇻🇪 | URGENTE: Imágenes de ataques contra el Cuartel de la Montaña que dominan la capital de Venezuela, Caracas, y que alberga un mausoleo con los restos de Hugo Chávez. pic.twitter.com/OLOicmDzbN
— Alerta News 24 (@AlertaNews24) January 3, 2026
- 09:03 GMT
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez has labeled the US attack on Venezuela “state terrorism” and demanded an urgent response from the international community to the “criminal” act. “Our Zone Of Peace is being brutally assaulted,” he wrote on X.
- 09:03 GMT
A US official has told the Wall Street Journal that the White House will release an official statement on the attack against Venezuela after American forces leave the country’s airspace.
🚨 BREAKING: Reports of U.S. Army CH-67G Chinook Special Operations helicopters seen flying over Caracas, Venezuela during suspected U.S. airstrikesAt least TWELVE explosions appear to have occurred throughout the capital city.These Chinooks are believed to be from the Army’s… pic.twitter.com/K3qwNejK2q
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) January 3, 2026
- 09:08 GMT
The US Senate Armed Services Committee had not been notified by the White House about any military action against Venezuela, CNN has reported, citing an informed source.
- 09:16 GMT
Speaking to RT from Caracas, Jesus Rodriguez-Espinoza, a former Venezuelan diplomat and editor of the Orinoco Tribune, said that he believed the ultimate target of the strikes was Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
He added that while the US has the world’s most powerful military, it would struggle to maintain a presence in Venezuela or impose a puppet government, which he said Washington had been attempting to do for decades.
”We have been preparing for this, and we are ready to defend Venezuela from any gringos that try to put boots on the ground,” he said.
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