WATCH: Trump Speaks Live On Maduro Capture, Operation “Absolute Resolve”

President Trump Holds a Press Conference, Jan. 3, 2026

MADURO CAPTURED!

President Trump Holds a Press Conference, Jan. 3, 2026 https://t.co/5ykCqSNuNa

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 3, 2026

From President Trump… pic.twitter.com/XOR750D3w4

— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) January 3, 2026

Inside President Trump’s press conference:

Steve Witkoff
FBI Director Kash Patel
Stephen Miller
CIA Director Ratcliffe
Sec. Rubio
Sec. Hegseth
Gen. Caine pic.twitter.com/sERmuyuTFg

— Libbey Dean (@LibbeyDean_) January 3, 2026

“We will defend our citizens against all threats, foreign and domestic.” – President Donald J. Trump

Trump reassured Venezuelans that the US will “run the country”until a “proper and judicious transition” occurs.

🚨 BOOM! Nobel Peace Prize winner and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado: "We are ready to TAKE OVER the government.”

This is the woman who dedicated her Peace Prize to President Trump.

🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/nw3cxQMKVg

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 3, 2026

Thousands of Venezuelans around the world have taken to the streets to celebrate the fall of Nicolás Maduro’s narco-terrorist regime. pic.twitter.com/vVdcFEA7ei

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 3, 2026

"At my direction, the U.S. Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela…This was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history." – PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/QibvrRKsSv

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 3, 2026

.@POTUS: "Venezuela unilaterally seized and stole American oil, American assets, and American platforms, costing us billions and billions of dollars… This constituted one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country." pic.twitter.com/jYI7t4FKzs

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026

WSJ: President Trump is speaking on the U.S. strikes against Venezuela and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. “We are going to run the country,” he said at a news conference from his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump said U.S. oil companies will spend billions of dollars in Venezuela to fix its oil infrastructure.

The U.S. captured Maduro and his wife and extracted them from the country on the USS Iwo Jima in a military operation carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement, according to President Trump.

The announcement came hours after the oil-rich Latin American country’s capital, Caracas, was rocked by a series of explosions. Venezuela’s government said that the coastal states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira were also hit.

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Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores have been indicted in New York, according to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. The indictment named four other defendants, including Maduro’s his son and other senior government officials, charging them with drug and gun offenses.

The raid to capture Maduro was led by special-operations forces, including a unit involved in the killing of Osama bin Laden. Trump told Fox & Friends that “a couple of guys were hit” but that nobody on the U.S. side was killed.

Venezuela ordered a general mobilization of all the country’s social and political forces to counter what it said was an imperialist attack.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado applauded the U.S. action to remove Maduro from power, and urged Venezuela’s military to respect the results of the country’s July 2024 election.

🚨 An excellent and very lengthy investigative piece from 2017 about how Hezbollah operates in Latin America, primarily in Venezuela

They Iranian-backed terrorist group is involved in large scale drug trafficking and undermines U.S. interests in the region

Obama let them off… pic.twitter.com/lsygfaNbjG

— Ryan Saavedra (@RyanSaavedra) January 3, 2026

Related: Iran lost their foothold in South America.