Late on Friday evening, precisely at 10:46 p.m. EST, President Trump authorized a bold operation to apprehend Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. This decisive move followed a protracted period of escalating tensions and unsuccessful diplomatic efforts.

The initiative, dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” represented the culmination of extensive strategizing and rehearsals by the U.S. military and intelligence agencies, as revealed by General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to General Caine, the operation was meticulously planned by the U.S. intelligence community, which had been monitoring Maduro for several months. Their surveillance efforts aimed to map out details such as his movements, residences, travel habits, dining spots, and even his choice of attire.

A source, speaking anonymously to The Hill due to the sensitive nature of the information, disclosed that a small CIA team had been operating in Venezuela since August. This team provided critical insights into Maduro’s daily life, which proved instrumental in his eventual capture.

The source further revealed that the CIA had a confidential informant within the Venezuelan government. This insider was key in monitoring Maduro’s movements and pinpointing his whereabouts during the operation.

U.S. service members, after weeks of preparation, were ready to spring into action by early December but were waiting for “a series of aligned events.”

“Weather in Venezuela is always a factor this time of the year. Over the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s, the men and women of the United States military sat ready, patiently waiting for the right triggers to be met and the president to order us into action,” Caine said.

The administration then saw an opportunity last night after the weather broke “just enough,” clearing a path for its aviators, Caine said. 

Here’s how Maduro’s capture unfolded:

After Trump’s order on Friday night, over 150 U.S. aircraft — including bombers, fighter jets, intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft — launched from 20 different bases on land and sea into Venezuela, Caine told reporters. 

U.S. helicopters took off with an extraction force, which included law enforcement officers, and started their flight into Venezuela at 100 feet above water. As they approached the shoreline, the U.S. began “layering different effects” provided by U.S. Space Command, U.S. Cyber Command and other commands to “create a pathway.”

Those forces were protected by F-22s, F-18s, F-35s, E/A-18s, E-2s, B-1 bombers and remotely piloted drones, which began “dismantling and disabling” Venezuela’s air defense systems and employing weapons to ensure a safe passage for the helicopters into Caracas, Caine said. 

“As the force crossed the last point of high terrain where they’ve been hiding in the clutter, we assessed that we had maintained totally the element of surprise,” he said. 

As Trump watched a livestream of the operation from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., U.S. forces arrived at Maduro’s compound at 1:01 a.m. EST. As they made their way in, troops were fired upon, with one of the helicopters hit but still able to fly.

The service members, along with FBI agents then made their way into the Maduro’s residence, which Trump described as “very highly guarded” and a “fortress.”

“They just broke in, and they broke into places that were not really able to be broke into, you know, steel doors that were put there for just this reason,” Trump said. “They got taken out in a matter of seconds.”

Trump also said the Venezuelan leader unsuccessfully tried to reach a safe room.

“He was trying to get into it, but he got bum rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that,” according to the commander-in-chief.

Caine, meanwhile, said that U.S. Special Forces moved with “speed, precision and discipline” to ensure safety and ultimately apprehended Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who “gave up.”

The pair was taken into custody by the Justice Department and with the assistance of the U.S. military. 

The U.S. forces in Maduro’s compound were provided real-time updates by air and ground intelligence teams. 

Helicopters were then called in to grab the extraction force as fighter aircraft and drones provided overhead suppressive fire, Caine said. He noted there were “multiple self-defense engagements” as forces began to withdraw out of the country.

U.S. forces left Venezuela’s territory and were over the water at 3:29 a.m. EST with Maduro and his wife, who were then landed on USS Iwo Jima, the Navy’s Wasp-class amphibious assault ship.

“We think we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again, not to get it right, but to ensure that we cannot get it wrong,” Caine said. 

Following the capture of Maduro, Trump said that the U.S. team, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, will “run” Venezuela until a transition takes place.

Trump did not rule out having U.S. troops on the ground in Venezuela. 

“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to have. We had boots on the ground last night at a very high level,” the president said. “We’re gonna make sure that that country is run properly.”

“We’re there now. We’re ready to go again if we have to,” Trump later said during the press conference, adding the U.S. would also control the country’s lucrative oil industry. “It’s going to make a lot of money. We’re going to give money to the people.” 

U.S. forces remain in the region.

Updated at 6:19 p.m. EST