Donald Trump has announced that the United States will temporarily take control of Venezuela following the deployment of special forces to apprehend its president in a surprise nighttime raid.

During a press briefing shortly after the dramatic detention of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia in Caracas on Saturday, President Trump stated, “We will manage the country until we can ensure a safe, proper, and wise transition.”

He emphasized, “Our goal is to prevent a repeat of the issues we’ve faced over many years by ensuring the right leadership is established.”

Trump reiterated, “We will oversee the nation’s operations until a secure and orderly transition can be achieved.”

Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump accused Maduro of leading the Cartel of the Suns, a notorious drug trafficking syndicate.

The president has accused Maduro and his alleged cartel cronies of flooding the United States with illegal narcotics and has charged him with drug smuggling and weapons offenses. 

After his capture by the US Army’s elite Delta Force unit, Maduro was flown by helicopter to the USS Iwo Jima warship.

He will be taken to New York City to face charges at Manhattan Federal Court and will likely be held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, which currently houses alleged CEO murderer Luigi Mangione. 

Trump is seen discussing Nicolas Maduro’s arrest by the US Army’s elite Delta Force unit during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is pictured after his capture in a photo shared by President Donald Trump on his TruthSocial website 

Trump said Saturday that he had not briefed Congress of his plans to snatch Maduro, claiming that had he done so, the news would have ‘leaked’ and potentially helped the Venezuelan leader to evade capture.  

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado has been tipped as the country’s next president, but Trump made no mention of her on Saturday. 

She previously voiced support for Trump’s threats to get rid of Maduro and is hugely popular among the Venezuelan electorate.  

Maduro’s capture sparked jubilation from Venezuelan migrants living outside of their home nation Saturday.

Hundreds took to the streets of cities, including Santiago in Chile, to celebrate the ouster of a leader seen as a corrupt authoritarian accused of destroying the economy of his oil-rich country while silencing dissent. 

The atmosphere appeared altogether more muted in Caracas. 

Locals were photographed lining up outside supermarkets amid fears Maduro’s ouster will lead to even greater economic uncertainty. 

Shortly before Saturday’s press conference, the president shared an undignified photo of Maduro in a tracksuit after his capture.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and wife Cilia were both seized by a US military unit in the early hours of Caracas. Trump said Saturday afternoon that both will face criminal charges in New York City 

Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado has been tipped to be the next president of Venezuela

Trump updates Americans on his capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday afternoon, flanked by White House cabinet members including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth

He said the Venezuelan president’s wife will also be charged, but did not offer further details. 

Maduro was photographed wearing a heavy black plastic eye mask and ear muffs over his ears in an apparent bid to keep his location a secret from him.

He was clad in a gray tracksuit and clutched a plastic water bottle. It is unclear if this is what Maduro was wearing when he was taken or if it was given to him by US forces. 

The image was a far cry from his usual appearance in sharp suits or military regalia, with CNN commentators speculating it had been chosen to humiliate the corrupt leader. 

There was no sign of Cilia. 

Addressing a press conference in Mar-a-Lago Saturday, Trump told journalists that the Venezuelan first lady was part of her husband’s alleged schemes and that she too will face criminal charges in Manhattan. 

‘Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice,’ Trump declared. 

The Maduros are said to have been frightened of capture by US forces and allegedly took to sleeping in a different place every night.

Their whereabouts was being monitored successfully by CIA spies, with Trump green-lighting the operation to snatch them on Thursday.  

Earlier on Saturday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Maduro would face drug and weapons trafficking charges originally filed in 2020 during Trump’s first term in office.

Five other Venezuelan officials face the same charges. But the first lady is not among those names and it remains unclear what charges she will face.  

Speaking while flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump told of how Maduro was snatched by the US Army’s elite Delta Force unit in the dead of night and taken to the USS Iwo Jima war ship. 

He will be transported to New York City to face federal charges of drugs and weapons smuggling.

 Shortly after 2am Venezuela time Saturday morning, Delta Force soldiers burst into the Maduros bedroom and captured them.  

A source told the network the operation – which struck five Venezuelan sites including three in the country’s capital Caracas – did not result in any casualties.

A destroyed anti-aircraft unit is seen burned out next to a destroyed bus at La Carlotta military air base in Caracas hours after Friday’s US operation in Venezuela that saw the country’s president and first lady seized by US special forces 

Venezuelans are photographed lining up outside a supermarket on Saturday morning after the country’s president Nicolas Maduro was captured by the US

Venezuelans living in Chile celebrate the capture of President Nicolas Maduro in Santiago on Saturday

Trump said the Maduros have been taken to the USS Iwo Jima assault ship and that they’ll later be transported to New York City.

He hailed the operation as ‘brilliant’ in a brief New York Times interview early Saturday. 

The president later called into Fox News’s breakfast show Fox & Friends, excitedly telling its hosts: ‘I mean, I watched it literally l like I was watching a television show. If you would’ve seen the speed, the violence – it was an amazing thing.’

President Trump says he will hold a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, Florida, at 11:30am ET on Saturday.  

Explosions were seen ripping across Caracas during the daring raid, with Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek Saab insisting that ‘innocents’ had been ‘mortally wounded’ by the US operation.