Operating undetected within Caracas for months, the unit combined human intelligence with data from stealth drones to construct a detailed map of the president's daily life. This high-risk endeavor, undertaken without the safety net of diplomatic immunity due to the embassy closure, yielded critical results. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that the intelligence allowed the US to track Maduro's specific movements, dietary habits, and even his pets, according to The New York Times.

These details were essential for the subsequent military strike, a pre-dawn raid on Saturday by elite Delta Force personnel, described as the most dangerous US operation since the 2011 bin Laden raid.

The mission resulted in the precise extraction of Maduro without American fatalities, a clear victory heralded by President Trump despite lingering questions regarding the legal basis for the intervention.

Trump defended Operation Absolute Resolve as a necessary strike against drug trafficking. However, Venezuela's role in the global drug trade is relatively minor, and officials had previously assured Congress that regime change was not the goal. Furthermore, Trump has historically opposed foreign occupations, The New York Times noted. Nevertheless, the president announced on Saturday that American officials were now managing Venezuela and that the US would restore the nation's oil sector.

In contrast to historically messy interventions in Panama or Cuba, this operation was characterized as nearly flawless by multiple officials speaking anonymously to The New York Times. Preparation was extensive; Delta Force commandos practiced the extraction in a full-scale model of Maduro's home built in Kentucky, drilling breaches of steel doors at increasing velocities.

The military spent days poised to launch, waiting for weather conditions that would minimize civilian risk, The New York Times reported.

Amid heightened security, Maduro shifted between several locations, often leaving the US unsure of his overnight plans until late. Verification that he was at the targeted compound was a prerequisite for the attack. In the days prior, the US deployed a surge of assets including Reaper drones and fighter jets, a buildup that analysts indicated made action inevitable.

Pressure had been steadily applied; the CIA had struck a port facility a week earlier, and a controversial maritime campaign had destroyed dozens of vessels and claimed at least 115 lives over several months, according to The New York Times.

Maduro attempted to forestall the raid by offering oil access, Trump revealed. A US official told The New York Times that a Dec. 23 proposal involving exile to Turkey was angrily rejected by Maduro, signaling a lack of seriousness.

The breakdown of these talks set the stage for his capture and subsequent imprisonment in Brooklyn on federal charges. While the Venezuelan government likely suspected an attack, the military successfully maintained tactical surprise, echoing their summer strategy against Iranian nuclear targets, The New York Times reported.

Trump authorized the mission as early as Christmas but delegated the specific timing to Pentagon planners to ensure optimal conditions. An official noted that the holiday season was selected because many government and military personnel were on vacation. Adverse weather forced a delay, but clearing skies provided commanders with a "rolling window" of opportunities. Trump issued the final go-ahead at 10:46 p.m. Friday.

Without clear weather, the mission might have been postponed until mid-January, according to an official. The operation launched formally at 4:30 p.m. Friday with initial air approvals, though officials spent the next six hours monitoring weather and intelligence.

Trump dined at Mar-a-Lago before confirming the order by phone at 10:30 p.m. and joining his national security team in a secure location.

A cyberattack initiated the assault in Venezuela, cutting power to Caracas to shroud the incoming aircraft in darkness. Over 150 aircraft, including bombers and drones, took off from 20 different locations for the mission, The New York Times reported.

Intelligence agencies determined that Maduro remained unaware as the force advanced. Explosions tore through Caracas early Saturday as US jets targeted air defenses. A US official told The New York Times that despite dramatic footage, the strikes mostly hit radar and radio towers.

At least 40 people, including civilians, were killed in the attack, according to a senior Venezuelan official. General Caine stated that air assets cleared a safe path for the Special Operations helicopters. Although defenses were suppressed, US helicopters came under fire near the compound at 2:01 a.m. Caine noted they responded with "overwhelming force."

One helicopter was damaged, and approximately six soldiers were injured, officials told The New York Times. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment transported the Delta Force team to the fortified target. This unit, known as the Night Stalkers, specializes in high-risk nocturnal missions and had been training near Venezuela. Delta Force breached the building while Trump watched a live feed from 1,300 miles away.

General Caine narrated the events as the president asked questions. "I watched it literally like I was watching a television show" Trump remarked on Fox News. Commandos used explosives to enter the structure while the president monitored from Florida. An official told The New York Times that the team took three minutes to reach Maduro after the breach. Trump described how Maduro and his wife attempted to flee to a reinforced room but were intercepted. "He was trying to get to a safe place" Trump said, adding: "It was a very thick door, a very heavy door. But he was unable to get to that door. He made it to the door, he was unable to close it."

Delta Force reported Maduro in custody roughly five minutes after entry. An FBI negotiator was on hand but proved unnecessary. The operatives quickly loaded the couple onto helicopters. By 4:29 a.m., they were aboard the USS Iwo Jima off the coast. They were subsequently transferred to Guantanamo Bay and then to New York via an FBI aircraft.

Trump watched the feed until the forces were safely over the ocean. The president stated a second wave of attacks was ready but unneeded, and he admonished other officials in the Venezuelan government that he was prepared to target them too.

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Around 2:00 a.m. local time, reports flooded in from across the capital describing a series of explosions, fireballs, and smoke, accompanied by low-flying helicopters. A Venezuelan government statement confirmed that attacks took place in three states across the federation. US President Donald Trump announced that President Nicolas Maduro – along with his wife – had been captured and flown out of the country.

Since August, the US has massed a formidable military force in the Caribbean: the helicopter carrier USS Iwo Jima carrying thousands of Marines, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford and its strike group, destroyers, a nuclear submarine, and amphibious ground forces. Puerto Rico has seen the deployment of F-35 fighter jets, UAVs, and Osprey aircraft.

In recent weeks, B-1 and B-52 bombers were spotted flying sorties off the Venezuelan coast. Simultaneously, American forces executed dozens of strikes against boats identified as drug smugglers, killing more than 100 people.

Donald Trump escalated his verbal offensive, occasionally threatening Maduro's life – including during a direct phone call – while declaring a closure of the country's air and maritime space. He designated the Caracas regime a foreign terrorist organization and doubled the bounty on Maduro's head to $50 million.

Throughout the summer and the early months of the troop concentration, Trump cited two primary justifications for the attacks: first, that Venezuela had "emptied its prisons into the US," and second, the drug trade allegedly orchestrated by the Caracas regime, which the White House claims costs hundreds of thousands of lives. "Every time I take out a boat, I save 25,000 American lives," Trump claimed. In December, he added that "Maduro's days are numbered" and refused to rule out a ground invasion. In a Truth Social post, Trump stated that strikes would continue "until Venezuela returns the oil, lands, and other assets stolen from the US in the past."

The slow-motion collapse

Venezuela has been a failed state for years, following decades as a regional economic powerhouse fueled by massive oil reserves. Hugo Chavez, the socialist leader who ruled from 1999, nationalized the oil industry and championed economic policies that triggered a slow-motion collapse. Upon his death in 2013, he handed power to his deputy, Nicolas Maduro, who continued this path while intensifying suppression of the opposition. Since 2014, roughly 8 million refugees – a quarter of the population – have fled the country carrying worthless Bolivar banknotes, the result of rampant inflation. The falsification of the July 2024 elections crushed what remained of the opposition, driving it into exile or the underground.

The regime rests on a narrow base: military officers controlling state companies, police, and "Colectivos" (armed pro-government gangs). The US and Western nations view Maduro as a dictator, and the Trump administration accuses him of running the "Cartel of the Suns" (a drug trafficking ring allegedly led by high-ranking military officials) – named after the insignia worn by Venezuelan generals. The administration also links him to "Tren de Aragua" (a violent Venezuelan criminal organization), which consolidated power in Venezuela's Tocoron prison before spreading across the continent after the facility was dismantled in 2023.

Trump designated the gang a terrorist organization due to its involvement in drug smuggling, human trafficking, and extortion. Concurrently, Caracas tightened ties with Iran – which established a drone factory on Venezuelan soil, deployed military advisors, and granted Hezbollah a foothold – as well as with Russia, which provides weapons and diplomatic backing.

How did a chronic regional crisis jump to the top of the White House target list? The answer lies deep within the administration's attempt to anchor its national security policy in the "America First" concept. In this regard, what appears to be the first US war in its own "backyard" fits the new administration – or at least the White House's perception – like a glove.

The "war on drugs" also aligns perfectly with the raison d'être of the MAGA movement: defending the American middle class from those the administration claims are "poisoning" it. "What you are doing now is not training," Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told troops on the USS Iwo Jima back in September. "This is a real mission for the vital interests of the US – to end the poisoning of the American people."

Yet despite this rhetoric, Venezuela plays a minor role in the drug trade reaching the US – Mexico and Colombia are far more significant vectors. The push to topple Maduro – preceded by months of "shaking the tree" in hopes the dictator would fall – is driven by diplomatic and geostrategic factors.

In its National Security Strategy released in December, the administration revived the "Monroe Doctrine" (a policy opposing European colonialism in the Americas) – the 1823 strategy articulated by President James Monroe declaring the Western Hemisphere the natural sphere of US influence, where foreign intervention is viewed as hostile.

The document, which aimed to "revive" that concept, asserted that competitors must be barred from controlling strategic assets in the region – a stance also reflected in the desire to acquire Greenland and friction with Panama over Chinese presence in ports near the canal.

A "classic" target

The launch of this operation marks a victory for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban refugees who views Latin American socialist regimes as a strategic and moral threat – and is seen as the architect of the anti-Maduro campaign. For Rubio and administration neoconservatives, the confrontation fulfills a "classic" objective: cementing American dominance in the Western Hemisphere and battling communism – with the hope that the Cuban regime will crack next.

Sidelined in this shift is Special Envoy Rick Grenell, a prominent MAGA figure who held talks with the Caracas regime, visited the country, and secured the release of American prisoners. The renewal of Chevron's license in the region was part of that track, which was completely shattered when Trump declared a naval blockade.

Regardless, nearly 11 months before the midterms, the president who promised to "end wars" and publicly coveted a Nobel Peace Prize is executing a move that could define his administration.

Throughout the rising tensions, Maduro tried to project that his country feared no confrontation, primarily by singing peace songs in clips that became iconic. In November, he took the stage to sing John Lennon's "Imagine," and in December he surprised again with a rendition of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" featuring his own lyrics: "No war, be happy. Peace and love."

At the same event, sword in hand, he declared: "We must stand as warriors, ready to break the teeth of the North American empire if necessary." The regime released propaganda videos showing the "recruitment of popular militias" to block the Americans, but the footage mostly featured civil servants and pensioners dependent on the state participating in ridiculous displays.

This morning, following the explosions, he declared a state of emergency in a message accusing the US of looting the country's oil – and gave up on the peace songs.

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According to a Reuters report from early Saturday, an anonymous US official confirmed that the United States is conducting military operations within Venezuelan territory. The official did not disclose additional information about the strikes. Trump has accused the country of flooding the US with narcotics, leading to months of boat bombings. Many nations view these as extrajudicial killings, and Maduro's government has always denied any involvement with drug trafficking.

Strikes were also seen in Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, local officials said.

The Pentagon deferred to the White House, which offered no comment, according to Reuters. Maduro claims the Trump administration seeks regime change to access Venezuela's massive oil wealth.

The first detonation happened at roughly 1:50 a.m., according to the network. "One was so strong, my window was shaking after it," a CNN journalist stated.

BREAKING:

Massive U.S. airstrikes against military targets in Caracas, Venezuela.

Dozens of U.S. helicopters are flying above the Venezuelan capital city. pic.twitter.com/48hjTu84FT

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) January 3, 2026

Staff for the outlet heard aircraft overhead following the explosions, while power outages struck several neighborhoods.

Venezuela's government said the US efforts to seize resources will fail.

Video: Explosions in Venezuela / Credit: Social media

President Trump has threatened US action against drug networks in the country, warning that land strikes are coming "soon."

In October, the US leader claimed he directed the CIA to enter Venezuela to halt drug and migrant trafficking, the outlet added.

Last month, Trump announced a blockade on sanctioned ships to pressure Maduro, Reuters noted.

"At this moment they are bombing Caracas" Colombian President Gustavo Petro stated on X. "Alert everyone — they have attacked Venezuela. They are bombing with missiles. The (Organization of American States) and the UN must meet immediately."

Petro, a frequent critic of the US campaign, provided no evidence for his statement, according to Reuters.

The US has amassed significant military assets in the Caribbean, including warships and fighter jets. Beyond the blockade, Trump expanded sanctions and struck over two dozen alleged drug vessels in the Pacific and Caribbean, Reuters reported.

Last week, Trump said the US "hit" a drug-loading zone in Venezuela, marking the first known land operation since the campaign began, per Reuters.

He did not confirm if the CIA was involved, though other outlets reported the agency's role, Reuters added.

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