Venezuela has asked the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting and condemn U.S. military strikes.

U.S. F-35 jets returning to Puerto Rico this morning after overnight U.S. strikes on Venezuela.

Trump will hold a press conference shortly on Maduro’s capture.

Stay tuned!

Maduro is expected to arrive at Guantánamo Bay before flying to New York on an FBI plane.

Source: ABC News

BREAKING: Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima.

Trump posts a “Fortunate Son” edit on Truth Social featuring footage from the attacks in Venezuela.

A CIA source inside Maduro’s inner circle helped U.S. forces track him until his capture.

People briefed on the operation said elements of the Venezuelan military cooperated in the arrest.

One person close to the opposition described Maduro’s removal as an “inside job.”

Source: Reuters

Trump in 2023:

When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over.

We would have gotten all that oil. It would have been right next door.

But now we’re buying oil from Venezuela, so we’re making a dictator very rich. Can you believe this?

Nobody can believe it. You know their oil is garbage. It’s horrible—the worst you can get. It’s like tar.

Trump on Maduro’s capture:

It was an assault like people have not seen since World War II.

It was a force directed against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas, to bring outlaw dictator Nicolás Maduro to justice.

Trump:

No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday.

All Venezuelan military capabilities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with U.S. law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night.

It was dark. The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to certain expertise that we have. It was dark and it was deadly—but he was captured.

Trump:

These highly trained warriors, operating in collaboration with U.S. law enforcement, caught them in a very ready position. They were waiting for us.

They knew we had many ships out at sea, just sort of waiting. They knew we were coming.

They were completely overwhelmed—very quickly incapacitated.

Trump:

If you had seen what I saw last night, you would have been very impressed. I’m not sure you’ll ever get to see it, but it was an incredible thing to see.

Not a single American service member was killed, and not a single piece of American equipment was lost.

BREAKING: Trump says U.S. is going to run Venezuela.

We’re going to run the country until such time as we can have a safe, proper, and judicious transition.

We don’t want to be involved in having somebody else step in and end up with the same situation.

BREAKING: Trump:

We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies—the biggest anywhere in the world—go in and spend billions of dollars to fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.

We’re ready to stage a second and much larger attack if needed.

Trump:

We will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe.

Trump:

Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil.

Right now, they’re on a ship and will ultimately be taken to New York.

After that, a decision will be made—presumably between New York and Miami, or Florida.

Trump:

We built the Venezuelan oil industry with American talent, and the socialist regime stole it from us through force.

Trump:

Under the now-deposed dictator Maduro, Venezuela increasingly hosted foreign adversaries in our region and acquired menacing offensive weapons that could threaten U.S. interests and lives.

They used those weapons last night.

Trump:

The Monroe Doctrine is a big deal, but we superseded it by a lot — by a real lot.

Now they call it the “Donroe Doctrine.” I don’t know.

Trump:

Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.

Trump:

The American armada remains in position, and the United States retains all military options until U.S. demands are fully met and satisfied.

All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand this: what happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them if they are not fair—even to their own people.