Trump Says U.S. Has Captured Venezuelan President Following ‘Large-Scale’ Strikes

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States had captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro after carrying out a “large-scale” strike against the country.

The attack follows months of pressure from the Trump Administration on Maduro to cede power in the South American country over long-standing accusations of drug trafficking and election rigging. It represents the largest U.S. military operation in Latin America since the 1989 invasion of Panama, when, as today, the U.S. captured the country’s leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega.

Read more: Trump Signals Long-Term Involvement in Venezuela After Capturing President

The raid is the second major military campaign launched by the president since returning to office a year ago, following widespread airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Maduro and his wife had been “captured and flown out of the Country,” adding that the operation “was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement.”

Maduro was indicted on corruption and drug trafficking charges in the U.S. in 2020. The State Department had announced a $50 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

“We were going to do this four days ago, but the weather was not perfect, and then all of a sudden it opened up and we said go,” Trump said in an interview with Fox & Friends hours after the operation. “He was in a highly guarded — it was like a fortress actually,” he said, adding that no American troops were killed.

Trump also said the U.S. would be involved in deciding Venezuela’s future: “We’ll be involved in it very much.”

“We can’t take a chance in letting somebody else run and just take over what he left, or left off,” he said.

Vice President JD Vance said the U.S. President had offered Maduro “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.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, had been indicted in New York and would “soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.”

Read more: Trump Advisors and Venezuela Opposition Leaders Plan for Maduro’s Departure

Witnesses reported strikes in the capital, Caracas, beginning around 2 am local time, with videos posted to social media showing large explosions and what appeared to be U.S. military aircraft flying low over the city.

Venezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernández told The Associated Press that Maduro and his wife were at their home within the Ft. Tiuna military installation when they were captured.

“That’s where they bombed,” he said. “And, there, they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country.”

The Venezuelan government said attacks also occurred in the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. Photographs showed parts of Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex, engulfed in flames.

In a national address, Venezuela’s defense minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez denounced what he called an “invasion” and a “blatant outrage.” The statement was the first response from Maduro’s government since the strikes began.

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who is next in line to take charge of government, said she did not know the whereabouts of either Maduro or his wife.

“We demand that President Donald Trump’s government provide immediate proof of life for President Maduro and the First Lady,” Rodriguez said in an audio played on state TV.

Trump has repeatedly called Maduro an illegitimate president and his administration has accused him of running a “narco state”, without providing evidence. He said in an interview last month that Maduro’s “days are numbered.”

Republican U.S. Senator Mike Lee said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had told him Maduro would stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.

“He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant,” Lee said in a post on X.

He added that Rubio “anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody.”

Maduro had earlier declared a state of emergency in response to the attacks, according to a statement from the Venezuelan communications ministry. The statement said the government “rejects, repudiates, and denounces” U.S. military aggression.

At least 115 people have been killed since September in the U.S. strikes against alleged boats that the Trump Administration claims are smuggling drugs. Analysts and legal experts have questioned the legality of the boat strikes, which have been carried out without congressional approval.

The Trump Administration has been building up military forces in the region for months while ratcheting up threats against Venezuela’s government. The Pentagon deployed 10 F-35s to Puerto Rico. The U.S.S. Gerald Ford, thought to be the largest and most advanced aircraft carrier in the world, recently joined eight warships and some 10,000 troops already in the region.