Venezuela Bombing Live Updates: What next for Venezuela’s Maduro and his wife?

President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are being transported to New York ahead of an expected appearance in federal court in Manhattan, after US President Donald Trump said American forces captured the Venezuelan leader in an overnight operation and flew the couple out of the country.

They are expected to be brought before a U.S. District Court judge in New York City on a four-count indictment unsealed Saturday morning alleging narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking. In similar cases, defendants have been flown into New York Stewart International Airport in Orange County, New York, and then transported to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan, according to the report.

Gen. Dan Caine did not name the helicopter unit involved in the Caracas operation, but US officials said the mission was carried out by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment — the elite aviation unit known as the “Night Stalkers.”

The 160th operates modified MH-60 and MH-47 helicopters and is built for exactly this kind of work: low-level, high-risk flights and night missions that support insertions, extractions and raids.

US officials also said the unit has conducted what the Pentagon describes as training missions near Venezuela’s coast in recent months.

With Nicolás Maduro and his wife en route to New York, the next stage of their case will unfold in federal court in Manhattan.

They are expected to appear before a judge of the U.S. District Court on a four-count indictment for narco-terrorism and cocaine trafficking that was unsealed early Saturday.

In similar high-profile cases, defendants have been flown into Stewart International Airport in Orange County, about 72 miles north of New York City, before being transported under heavy security to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan. Authorities have not confirmed the timing or logistics of Maduro’s arrival, but security is expected to be extensive.

It is also not yet clear whether Maduro and his wife have retained defence counsel ahead of their initial court appearance.

President Donald Trump on Saturday defended his decision to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted on drug-trafficking charges, arguing Hernández had been “unfairly” targeted.

Trump made the remarks at a news conference held after the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — whom the administration says will face drugs and weapons charges in the United States.

A reporter asked Trump to explain how Hernández’s case differs from Maduro’s, given that both involve US prosecutors and alleged links to drug trafficking. Trump responded by comparing Hernández’s prosecution to what he described as politically motivated treatment of himself during the Biden administration.

“The man that I pardoned was … treated like the Biden administration treated a man named Trump,” he said. “This was a man who was persecuted very unfairly.”

Hernández served as Honduras’ president from 2014 to 2022. In 2024, a US judge sentenced him to 45 years in prison and imposed an $8 million fine following his conviction on drug-trafficking offences.

Asked how running another country fits “America First,” Trump’s answer was blunt: “I think it is.”

Oil, energy security, and “good neighbours” were the justification. Cost was waved away. Duration was left open.

Trump once told The Atlantic that America First is whatever he says it is. This briefing put that philosophy into practice.

By the end, the contradictions were stacked high:

– No occupation, but US control

– No timeline, but total authority

– No cost, but massive rebuilding

– No regime change — except explicitly so

Trump campaigned against endless wars and regime-change disasters. Yet in this briefing, he said the opposite.

“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have them,” he said.

That line matters. It directly contradicts the administration’s repeated assurances that this was not an occupation or prolonged intervention.

Trump also dismissed the idea of notifying Congress in advance, saying lawmakers “have a tendency to leak,” before adding that Venezuelan forces “knew we were coming.”

When reporters asked who would run Venezuela, Trump said “a group” and gestured behind him.

Standing there were Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Gen. Dan Caine.

For “a period of time,” Trump said, “the people standing right behind me” would be running the country — alongside unnamed Venezuelans.

There were no details on structure, authority, or continuity. The US embassy in Caracas has been closed since 2019. There are no visible US administrative systems inside the country.

Even Rubio, while calling the mission “largely law enforcement,” avoided explaining how day-to-day governance would work.

Every time Trump was asked about governance, legitimacy, or duration, he returned to oil.

American companies would rebuild infrastructure. Oil companies would pay for it. Venezuela’s oil would be sold abroad — including to China. The country, Trump said, would “make a lot of money.”

Running Venezuela, he insisted, “won’t cost us anything.”

The logic was transactional: control first, monetisation second, exit later.

Trump framed the takeover as a “partnership” that would make Venezuelans “rich, independent and safe.” But it was a partnership born of a government overthrow — with the US setting terms, timelines, and profit flows.

This wasn’t an aside. It was the backbone of the pitch.

US administrations usually wrap interventions in careful language. Trump didn’t bother.

He said Venezuela would be run by the United States. He said the Maduro system would not continue under another leader. And he warned Venezuelan political and military figures that “what happened to Maduro can happen to them.”

The justification shifted repeatedly: drugs, gangs, security, oil. Trump revived claims that Maduro sent members of Tren de Aragua to terrorise US communities, despite his own intelligence agencies earlier finding the gang is not controlled by the Venezuelan state.

Asked about the mixed history of US-backed coups and interventions in Latin America, Trump brushed it aside: “Not with me,” he said. “We have a perfect record of winning.”

Donald Trump didn’t hedge. He didn’t soften the language. He said it plainly: the United States is going to “run the country” — Venezuela — until Washington decides it’s time to leave.

He repeated it three times.

There was no timeline, no roadmap, no explanation of how control would work on the ground. Trump compared the idea to US occupations in Germany, Japan and Iraq — acknowledging, almost in passing, that the record is “checkered.”

When pressed on who exactly would govern Venezuela, Trump said “a group,” gestured to advisers standing behind him, and quickly pivoted to oil. American companies, he said, would rebuild infrastructure and “start making money for the country.”

This was not framed as diplomacy or pressure. It was framed as control — temporary, undefined, and entirely at Washington’s discretion.

Even as Trump spoke, senior Maduro allies appeared on Venezuelan state television rejecting US authority, insisting they still ran the country. The gap between declaration and reality was immediate.

Gen. Dan Caine said the force involved in the Venezuela mission ranged in age from 20 to 49 and was backed by a dedicated “extraction force” tasked with securing Nicolás Maduro.

Caine said US warplanes dismantled Venezuelan air defences to open a corridor for American military helicopters to enter Caracas. During the operation, he added, one US aircraft was struck but remained flyable.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who US officials say is aboard the USS Iwo Jima bound for New York, is expected to make a brief stop at the US military base at Guantánamo Bay, according to two sources familiar with the plans cited by CNN.

The stop is being considered to speed up the transfer process, one source said. From Guantánamo, officials could place Maduro directly on a flight to New York, avoiding the need to present him first at another court.

The base, often referred to as “Gitmo,” is located in southeastern Cuba on the coast of Guantánamo Bay.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the US military operation in Venezuela was launched at the request of the Justice Department and was codenamed “Absolute Resolve.”

Caine said the mission involved around 150 aircraft operating across the hemisphere, one of the most detailed public accounts the US government has offered so far of the scale of the operation.

He added that the planning and execution drew on decades of US military experience conducting counterterrorism operations in the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Africa, suggesting the raid was designed using playbooks developed in high-risk overseas missions rather than conventional state-to-state warfare.

Trump gave no details on what the United States “running” Venezuela would actually look like, including whether Washington would install an American official in a leadership role.

As he defended the military operation, Trump again claimed that Tren de Aragua had been sent by Nicolás Maduro to terrorise communities in the United States. That assertion, however, runs up against his own intelligence community’s assessment earlier this year, which concluded the gang is not controlled by the Venezuelan government.

Trump said the United States is prepared to launch another round of strikes if needed. He also claimed Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will be indicted in New York and are currently aboard a ship en route to the city.

Trump said Venezuela’s next leadership remains unclear, and argued the United States will stay in charge until what he called a “safe, proper and judicious transition” is in place. He repeated the point three times, language that effectively describes an occupation.

He set no timeline. The decision on when to hand back control, he suggested, would be made by Washington.

Trump then pivoted to oil, saying American companies would repair Venezuela’s infrastructure and “start making money for the country.” He cast this as a future “partnership” that would make Venezuelans “rich, independent and safe,” even as the premise is a US-led overthrow of the existing government.

On the military operation, Trump said the US had been ready to launch a “second wave” after the initial strike but claimed it wasn’t needed because the first phase succeeded. He added that follow-on action remains an option if Washington deems it necessary.

“We are going to run the country,” Trump said, referring to Venezuela. He added that he does not want the Maduro regime to continue under any replacement leader.

Trump said the United States used “overwhelming American military power,” from “air, land and sea,” to seize Nicolás Maduro, and he compared the mission to other operations he says he ordered, including the June strike on Iran’s nuclear sites.

He argued “no other nation” could carry out an operation of that scale and suggested the US was responsible for Caracas losing power. Trump did not explain how the outage was caused, but his remarks implied either a direct strike on the electrical grid or a cyberattack.

“They knew we were coming,” Trump said, claiming Venezuelan forces were quickly overwhelmed. He also said no American service members were killed, though he had earlier suggested there were casualties.

Opening his Mar-a-Lago news conference, Trump said the Venezuela operation was a show of force unlike anything seen since World War II.

María Corina Machado just threw down the clearest challenge yet to Nicolás Maduro — and she did it in the language of legitimacy, law, and a transfer of command.

In a letter to Venezuelans posted on X, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner said the moment had arrived for “popular sovereignty” — her framing for a democratic handover — and called for opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia to be installed as the country’s leader.

Machado’s message is blunt: Maduro’s era is over, and the machinery of the state should start behaving like it.

“Nicolás Maduro from today faces international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations,” she wrote, casting the current moment not just as political change but as legal reckoning.

She explicitly pointed to the United States, saying Maduro’s refusal to accept a negotiated solution had prompted Washington to act. “Given his refusal to accept a negotiated solution, the government of the United States has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law,” Machado said — a line that reads like both a justification and a warning.

President Donald Trump is set to provide updates regarding Venezuela soon at Mar-a-Lago in a news conference.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres is “deeply alarmed” by the United States’ military action in Venezuela and says it could have “potential worrying implications for the region,” according to his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

Dujarric said the UN chief sees the episode as bigger than Venezuela’s internal crisis, warning that it risks normalising actions that bypass international rules.

“Independently of the situation in Venezuela, these developments constitute a dangerous precedent,” Dujarric said, adding that the Secretary-General continues to stress “full respect” for international law, including the UN Charter.

Guterres is also “deeply concerned” that international law may not have been respected in how the operation was carried out, Dujarric said.

The US Department of Justice has unsealed a new indictment against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, expanding its long-running legal case to include his wife and son.

According to the indictment, US prosecutors allege that Maduro and his inner circle systematically turned Venezuela’s state institutions into a vehicle for drug trafficking and corruption, using government power to protect and profit from the narcotics trade.

The Justice Department claims this corruption was not incidental but structural,  designed to enrich senior Venezuelan officials and their families while enabling violent narco-terrorist groups to operate freely inside the country.

“These networks helped produce, protect, and transport tons of cocaine to the United States,” the indictment says, arguing that criminal groups functioned with near-total impunity on Venezuelan soil because of political protection at the highest levels.

The United States Justice Department released a new indictment of Maduro and his wife for alleged role in narco-terrorism conspiracy. -- AP

US President Donald Trump said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been captured by US forces and will be transported to New York, where both have been indicted. Trump said Washington would stay deeply involved in Venezuela’s future and would not allow anyone to “take over where Maduro left off,” calling the operation a show of US resolve.

President Donald Trump said the United States will play a key role in deciding what comes next for Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro was captured and flown out, adding, “We’ll be involved in it very much.” Venezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernandez claimed Maduro and his wife were seized from their home at a military installation, calling the operation a “kidnapping” following bombardment of the site. -- AP

US President Donald Trump says some US forces injured in Venezuela strike but he believes'we had nobody killed.' -- AP

President Donald Trump said he watched live as U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, describing the operation as unfolding “like I was watching a television show.” He told Fox News, “I mean, I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show. And if you would have seen the speed, the violence." “We watched every aspect of it,” he said.

"Following very closely the situation in Venezuela. We stand by the people of Venezuela and support a peaceful and democratic transition. Any solution must respect international law and the UN Charter. With HRVP @kajakallas and in coordination with EU Member States, we are making sure that EU citizens in the country can count on our full support," posted Ursula von der Leyen, president of EU Commission.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro was captured from a highly guarded "fortress," adding that no Americans were killed in the operation.

Ruling Venezuelan party leader tells AP Maduro was at home on a military base when he was captured in US operation. -- AP

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the United Kingdom (UK) was not involved in the US' strikes on Venezuela on Saturday and that it was important to uphold international law, and that he wanted to speak to US President Donald Trump and find out exactly what had happened.  -- Reuters

US Vice President JD Vance praised the strikes in Venezuela and wrote on X, "The president offered multiple off ramps, but was very clear throughout this process: the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States. Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says. Kudos to our brave special operators who pulled off a truly impressive operation." He added, "And PSA for everyone saying this was 'illegal': Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism. You don't get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas."

Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said the country would “overcome” a wave of U.S. military strikes, after Washington claimed the operation also involved the capture of President Nicolas Maduro. Speaking on state television, Cabello said Venezuela had survived past crises and would endure this confrontation as well. -- AFP

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi announced that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York on multiple charges, including narco-terrorism, cocaine trafficking, and weapons offences. She said the two will be tried in American courts, calling it a major step toward accountability for alleged international drug trafficking against the United States. Bondi thanked President Donald Trump for pushing for action and praised the US military for what she described as a successful operation to capture the accused.

Venezuela has sought an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to address what it described as “criminal aggression” by the United States. The move comes amid continued uncertainty over the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro following the attacks.

The European Union said it is closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela, with its top diplomat Kaja Kallas saying that Nicolás Maduro lacks legitimacy. Kallas said the EU supports a peaceful transition and stressed that international law and the UN Charter must be respected under all circumstances. She added that the safety of EU citizens in Venezuela remains the bloc’s top priority.

U.S. Senator Mike Lee posted on X Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed him that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel and will stand trial on criminal charges in the United States. He said the military action seen overnight was carried out to protect those executing the arrest warrant. Lee added that the action likely falls under the president’s Article II authority to protect U.S. personnel from imminent threats.

People in Caracas fled in panic as the explosions went off around them, reported AP.

Russia condemned what it called a US act of “armed aggression” against Venezuela following explosions in Caracas, urging restraint, dialogue, and reaffirming support for Venezuela’s Bolivarian leadership and sovereignty, reported The Moscow Times.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has confirmed that President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores are missing and that their location is unknown. "We do not know the whereabouts of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores, We demand proof of life," Vice President Rodriguez said on state TV.

This is the first such direct intervention by the US in Latin America since the invasion of Panama in 1989 to depose military leader Manuel Noriega.

Venezuela will resist the presence of foreign troops, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino said in a video early on Saturday, as U.S. President Donald Trump said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had been captured and was being removed from the country. -- Reuters

The Venezuelan government has not confirmed the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife yet.

The US Embassy in Caracas on Saturday issued a security alert saying it is aware of reports of explosions in Venezuela and advising American citizens in the country to shelter in place.

The Venezuelan opposition said it does not have an official comment on the ongoing developments in the country. "At this moment, there is no official statement regarding the events reported in Venezuela. Any confirmed information will be disseminated in a timely manner through official channels," the opposition said in a brief statement.

The United States is carrying out strikes inside Venezuela, a U.S. official told Reuters early on Saturday. The official, who was speaking on the condition of anonymity, did not provide details. (Reuters)

Iran has become one of the first countries to react to Caracas bombing. Tehran has condemned 'American military attack' on Venezuela

The developments drew swift reactions from neighbouring Colombia, which voiced concern over the escalation. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said his government was closely monitoring the situation and warned against actions that could destabilise the region. "The Government of the Republic of Colombia observes with deep concern the reports of explosions and unusual aerial activity recorded in recent hours in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," the statement said, adding that Bogotá remains committed to the principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and the peaceful resolution of disputes. (Read More)

Days before the strikes, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday had said he was willing to engage in discussions with the United States on issues related to drug trafficking and oil "wherever and whenever they want".

In an interview with Venezuelan state television, Maduro had refrained from directly addressing claims by US President Donald Trump that American forces had struck a docking facility in Venezuela - an operation that, according to reports, would mark the first such attack inside the country and was allegedly carried out by the CIA.

Earlier this week, Trump said the United States had targeted a "dock area" used by what he described as Venezuelan drug boats, claiming the strike caused a "major explosion" at a site where vessels were allegedly being loaded with narcotics.

The Venezuelan president has announced a nationwide emergency and condemned the attacks as an attempt by the United States to seize the country's oil and mineral wealth.

US President Donald Trump has authorised military action targeting locations inside Venezuela, including military installations, according to American officials cited by CBS News. The same sources said the Trump administration is monitoring reports of explosions and aircraft activity over Caracas in the early hours of Saturday.

The developments follow weeks of escalating pressure by Washington on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The US administration has accused Maduro of allowing criminal networks and drug trafficking operations to operate with impunity, claims that Caracas has consistently rejected.

Officials said the reported strikes form part of a broader strategy aimed at confronting what Washington describes as security threats emanating from Venezuela, amid sharply deteriorating relations between the two countries.

Venezuela government has just released a statement. It reads: "Venezuela rejects, repudiates, and denounces before the international community the extremely serious military aggression perpetrated by the current Government of the United States of America against Venezuelan territory."

According to data released by the US military, at least 107 people have been killed in a minimum of 30 maritime operations carried out as part of the campaign.

Since September, US forces have conducted numerous operations against vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that Washington claims were linked to drug trafficking. However, the administration has not publicly presented evidence to support these claims, raising questions about the legality of the strikes.

For several weeks, Trump has warned of imminent strikes against drug cartels operating in the region, suggesting such actions would begin soon. Monday's reported operation appears to be the first instance of that strategy being implemented on land.

Washington has stepped up pressure on Caracas through tighter sanctions, the seizure of oil tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, and what officials describe as an informal closure of Venezuelan airspace.

The Trump administration has accused Maduro of leading a drug trafficking network, saying its actions are part of a broader crackdown on narcotics smuggling. Maduro has rejected the allegations, insisting that the United States is attempting to destabilise his government because of Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

If confirmed, the operation would mark the first known land-based strike on Venezuelan territory. President Nicolas Maduro has neither confirmed nor denied the reported attack, though he said on Thursday that he remained open to cooperation with Washington despite weeks of intensified US military pressure.

Earlier this week, Trump said US forces had struck and destroyed a docking site allegedly used by Venezuelan drug traffickers. He did not specify whether the operation was conducted by the military or intelligence agencies, nor did he disclose the exact location, stating only that it occurred "along the shore."

The incidents come amid rising tensions after US President Donald Trump signalled the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela. The United States has recently deployed a naval task force to the Caribbean as part of an expanded regional security operation.

Loud explosions accompanied by sounds resembling low-flying aircraft were heard in Venezuela's capital, Caracas, according to multiple media reports. An AFP report said the source of the blasts was not immediately clear, and explosions were reportedly still audible around 15 minutes later.