The US attacked Venezuela and captured its long-serving president Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, with Donald Trump promising to put the country under American control for now, even as Venezuelan officials vowed defiance.
As part of a dramatic overnight operation that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas, US special forces captured Maduro in or near one of his safe houses, the US president said.
With Maduro in US custody, “we will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”, Trump said.
Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela
Donald Trump has vowed the US is “going to run” Venezuela until there is an orderly transition of power but provided few details after ousting the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, in an audacious military attack. The president hailed an overnight operation that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as “an assault like people have not seen since world war two”.
But the dramatic intervention was condemned by Democrats on Capitol Hill and several leaders around the world as the most dangerous example of US imperialism since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
‘It sends a horrible signal’: US politicians react to Maduro’s capture
Reaction to the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US forces has been starkly polarized along political lines, with administration officials and Republicans celebrating the enforcement of a 2020 US narco-trafficking indictment against Maduro and Democrats decrying what they see as a violation of Venezuela’s right to self-determination.
US oil giants silent on Trump claim they will spend billions on Venezuelan oil industry
US oil giants have so far remained silent on Donald Trump’s claim that they are primed to spend “billions and billions of dollars” rebuilding the Venezuelan oil industry after the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
Global outcry after US launches strikes on Venezuela
The US has been condemned for breaking international law after it launched airstrikes on Caracas and captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife. France, Russia, China and the European Commission were among those who said Donald Trump had broken international rules after US troops carried out the operation on Saturday morning.
Explainer: Is there legal justification for US’s Venezuela attack?
The legality of the operation has been called into question – with even some of Donald Trump’s allies suggesting it violated international law. The Guardian spoke to leading experts in the field of international law to ask for their view on the unfolding events in Venezuela.
Analysis: The ‘Putinization’ of US foreign policy arrives in Venezuela
Hardly anyone expected 2026 to be a year of peace, and it was barely two days old when the worst fears were confirmed.
The overnight strikes on Venezuela, the abduction of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and Donald Trump’s declaration that the US would “run” the country and sell its oil, have driven another truck through international law and global norms. But that is not even the most concerning thing about it, Julian Borger writes in an analysis for the Guardian.
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Catching up? Here’s what happened on 2 January 2026.
