Senator Lindsey Graham to Barak Ravid:

Trump has been very clear that he believes there is a drug caliphate in our backyard that needs to be taken out.

The operation has been formulating for the last couple of weeks.

JD Vance:

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.

JD Vance on Maduro:

You don't get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas.

Senator Lindsey Graham:

With Maduro’s capture, the drug caliphate is moving toward collapse. Free Cuba.

Rep. Ro Khanna:

What will we say now if Xi Jinping wants to capture Lai of Taiwan or Putin tries to capture Zelensky in Ukraine?

China has warned its citizens not to travel to Venezuela in the near future.

Chinese nationals already in the country were urged to remain vigilant, avoid unnecessary travel and sensitive areas, and contact police or the Chinese embassy in emergencies.

Source: Xinhua

The United States did not warn Colombia in advance of its operation in Venezuela, though Colombia was aware of possible plans to capture President Maduro.

Source: CNN

Turkish Foreign Ministry:

Türkiye attaches importance to the stability of Venezuela and to the peace and well-being of the Venezuelan people.

In order to prevent the current situation from leading to negative consequences for regional and international security, we call on all parties to act with restraint.

We are ready to offer any constructive contribution toward resolving the crisis in Venezuela within the framework of international law.

Trump:

I was told by real military people that there is no other country on Earth that can do such a maneuver.

I watched it literally like I was watching a TV show.

It was an amazing thing.

U.S. Delta Force captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores while they were sleeping.

Source: CNN

Venezuela Vice President Delcy Rodríguez is in Russia.

Source: Reuters

A CIA source inside Venezuela helped track Nicolás Maduro’s location, with U.S. intelligence using stealth drones and human sources—boosted by a $50 million reward.

Source: NYT

Trump:

We have a few injuries but no deaths on our side is really amazing.

Trump:

We were going to do this four days ago, but the weather was not perfect; the weather has to be perfect.

Fox: What was Maduro doing?

Trump: He was in a fortress.

Trump:

We lost no aircraft; everything came back. One helicopter was hit pretty hard, but we got it back.

We had to do it because it’s a war where we’re losing 300,000 people a year. We don’t lose that much in a war.

Trump:

His house had steel doors and a safety space with solid steel all around. He tried to get into it, but was bum-rushed so fast he didn’t make it.

We were prepared with massive blowtorches to get through the steel, but we didn’t need them.

Fox News: What do you think is next for the Venezuelan people?

Trump: We’re making that decision now. We can’t take a chance on letting somebody else run and just take over where he left off.

We’ll be very much involved, and we want to bring liberty for the people.

I think the people of Venezuela are very, very happy. They were run by essentially a dictatorship—or worse.

Trump:

Claudia Sheinbaum is a good woman, but the cartels are running Mexico.

She’s not running Mexico — the cartels are running Mexico.

Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico.

Russian foreign ministry says information that Venezuela’s Rodríguez is in Russia is fake.

Trump:

Compare this to Afghanistan, where we were a laughingstock all over the world. We’re not a laughingstock anymore.

No, we have the greatest military in the world—by far. We have the greatest military equipment in the world, by far.