According to US media reports, Nicolás Maduro is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn following the Saturday evening arrival of a jet in New York carrying him and Cilia Flores.
Visuals from the White House X account depict a restrained Maduro at the US Drug Enforcement Administration, reports state. The footage captures him walking down a corridor featuring a "DEA NYD" mat, uttering "Goodnight" and "Happy new year".
Discussing the capture of the Venezuelan dictator, Donald Trump announced, "We're going to run the country [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition" according to reports. He elaborated no further.
Perp walked.pic.twitter.com/34iIsFUDdG
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 4, 2026
Post-operation, Washington aims to be "very strongly involved" in the oil industry, Trump asserted. He noted, "We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we're going to be very much involved in it."
Photos obtained by ABC News show a handcuffed Nicolas Maduro being escorted by Drug Enforcement Administrator Terry Cole and other federal agents after landing in New York on Saturday.
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— ABC News (@ABC) January 4, 2026
Trump confirmed no contact with the exiled opposition leader, María Corina Machado, reports say. Dismissing her prospects, he remarked: "She does not have the support in Venezuela. She is a very nice woman but she does not have the support." Judicial authorities in Venezuela instructed Delcy Rodríguez to fill the presidency during Maduro's unavailability, reports indicate.
Regarding plans to "run" the territory, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explained to CBS News: "President Trump sets the terms … But it means the drugs stop flowing. It means the oil that was taken from us is returned, ultimately, and that criminals are not sent to the United States."
An urgent UN Security Council consultation was calendared for Monday, reports note. Spokespersons for António Guterres relayed his alarm, labeling the US move "a dangerous precedent".
Casualties from Saturday exceeded 40, The New York Times reported. This statistic originated from a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
