唐纳德·特朗普总统表示，美国“成功地对委内瑞拉进行了大规模打击”，并表示委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗和他的妻子“被抓获并被驱逐出境”。
目击者说，特朗普在社交媒体平台上的声明是在周六凌晨4点30分前不久发布的，几个小时前，委内瑞拉首都加拉加斯发生了几次爆炸，照片和视频显示夜空中出现了浓烟和一个大火球。
特朗普在Mar-a-Lago举行的新闻发布会上表示，美国将在一段未指明的“时间”内“管理”委内瑞拉，此举令一些观察人士感到震惊。
他说，由他的一些内阁官员和委内瑞拉当地团队组成的团队将“管理这个国家”，因为“没有人接管”
“我们会好好经营的。我们会专业地运行它。我们将让世界上最大的石油公司进入，投资数十亿美元，取出资金，在委内瑞拉使用这些资金，最大的受益者将是委内瑞拉人民，”特朗普说。
总统建议美国军队可以参与这项努力。“我们不怕地面部队，”他说。
他说，如果需要，美国随时准备发动“更大规模”的第二波攻击。
纽约州参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)抨击了特朗普的声明。
“特朗普计划现在管理委内瑞拉的想法应该在所有美国人的心中引起恐惧，”他在一份新闻稿中说。“美国人民以前见过这种情况，并付出了毁灭性的代价。”
特朗普表示，此次行动是与美国执法部门联合进行的。国会议员表示，军方(消息人士称其中包括精英三角洲部队)已到位，以支持执法行动。
目前还没有美军在行动中死亡的报道。然而，特朗普和参议院情报委员会主席汤姆·科顿参议员表示，一些美国人受伤，一架直升机被击中。
“今天上午，我与国务卿卢比奥进行了交谈。他承认我们确实有人员受伤，但没有死亡，但这事先无法保证，”科顿在福克斯新闻频道说道。
此次行动是在与马杜罗和委内瑞拉政权的紧张局势不断升级之际进行的，人们对一系列针对涉嫌贩毒船只的船只袭击背后的动机提出了质疑。
《速度与暴力》
总统后来在接受福克斯新闻频道采访时谈到了这次行动的更多细节，称这次袭击是其他任何人都不可能完成的，而且“极其复杂”，以“速度和暴力”执行
他在电话采访中说，“整个演习、着陆、数量庞大的飞机、直升机的数量、不同类型的直升机、不同类型的战斗机，我们为每一种可能的情况都配备了战斗机。”。
“他们真的闯入了，他们闯入了实际上不可能的地方，闯入了，你知道，就是因为这个原因而放在那里的钢门，他们在几秒钟内就被拿掉了，”他补充说。
根据采访，总统说马杜罗试图逃跑，但被美国军队“匆忙赶到”。
他说，他最近已经让马杜罗下了坡道。
“嗯，基本上，我说过，你必须放弃。你必须投降，”特朗普在采访中说。
所谓的“毒品恐怖主义阴谋”
司法部长帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)表示，马杜罗和他的妻子西莉亚·弗洛雷斯(Cilia Flores)“很快将在美国土地上的美国法院面临美国司法的全面愤怒”，罪名包括纽约的一系列指控，包括“毒品恐怖主义阴谋”和“可卡因进口阴谋”以及武器指控。马杜罗多年来一直在纽约面临指控。
针对马杜罗及其家人的联邦起诉书于周六公开，称他是向美国进口数吨可卡因的毒品恐怖主义阴谋的“前沿”。
起诉书上个月由纽约的一个联邦大陪审团提交，指控马杜罗“为了他自己的利益、他的统治政权成员的利益以及他的家庭成员的利益，允许可卡因推动的腐败蓬勃发展。”
起诉书称其中两名家庭成员，马杜罗的妻子Cilia和他的儿子Nicolas，是所谓阴谋的一部分，总共指控六名被告犯有毒品恐怖主义阴谋、可卡因进口阴谋和武器罪。
知情人士告诉ABC新闻，一架载有马杜罗的飞机周六下午在纽约着陆。
预计马杜罗将在缉毒局成员的陪同下乘坐直升机前往纽约市。随后，预计他将由车队前往该市的一个地点进行处理，然后被关押在监狱中。
虽然消息人士没有说明马杜罗将被关押在哪里，但在曼哈顿联邦法院等待审判的被告通常被关押在MDC-Brooklyn。
据两名知情人士透露，导致马杜罗被捕的行动是在中情局确定了这名领导人的确切位置后，由军方的三角洲部队实施的。三角洲部队是一支精英特种作战部队，训练有素，擅长秘密反恐行动和人质营救。
一名消息人士称，“中情局从8月份开始秘密派出一个小团队，能够对马杜罗的生活模式提供非凡的洞察力，使抓捕他变得天衣无缝。”
这位消息人士说，中央情报局局长约翰·拉特克利夫、卢比奥、高级助手斯蒂芬·米勒和国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯“组成了一个核心团队，几个月来一直在这个问题上努力，不断开会和打电话，有时甚至每天都打电话……经常与总统会面和单独会面。”
川普告诉福克斯新闻频道，他在佛罗里达州观看了这次行动的每一个方面。
“他在一个，在一个更像是一个堡垒而不是一所房子。它有钢门。它有他们所说的安全空间，”特朗普说，并补充说马杜罗在被抓获前没有进入这个空间。
总统说，在准备过程中，美国军方建造了一个模拟房子，为这次行动进行训练。
据特朗普称，马杜罗被直升机带到美国硫磺岛，并将被运往纽约。
“直升机把他们带走了，他们乘坐直升机进行了一次愉快的飞行。我肯定他们喜欢它，”他说。
一名人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，特朗普几天前已经为抓捕马杜罗开了绿灯，军队准备在圣诞节当天发动袭击，但由于尼日利亚的军事空袭对抗“伊斯兰国”。这位人士说，后来的机会被推迟，部分原因是天气。
哥伦比亚广播公司首先报道了这次行动的细节。
在接受《纽约时报》的简短电话采访时，特朗普总统庆祝了他所说的抓捕马杜罗任务的成功，自去年11月被指认以来，美国一直认为马杜罗是外国恐怖组织的头目。
特朗普告诉《纽约时报》:“很多好的计划和很多非常非常棒的军队和优秀的人。”"实际上，这是一次出色的手术。"
当被问及他是否已就此次行动寻求国会授权，或者委内瑞拉接下来会发生什么时，特朗普表示，他将在周六上午在Mar-a-Lago举行的新闻发布会上解决这些问题。
预计没有进一步的行动
犹他州共和党参议员李政颖在X上的一篇帖子中说，他在最初询问“在没有宣战或授权使用武力的情况下，有什么可以从宪法上证明这一行动是正当的”之后，与国务卿马尔科·卢比奥通过电话谈论了委内瑞拉正在采取的行动
根据李的说法，卢比奥说，马杜罗“被美国人员逮捕，以在美国接受刑事指控的审判”，采取“动态行动”是为了保护那些执行逮捕令的人。
他还说，卢比奥告诉他，他预计“马杜罗现在被美国拘留，委内瑞拉不会采取进一步行动。”
“这是一次极其危险的行动，”美国广播公司撰稿人、前中央情报局官员和五角大楼高级官员米克·马尔罗伊说。“这需要这些三角洲部队的精确情报、详细计划和完美的执行，以及所有的支持，特别是(联合特种作战司令部)的空中力量，才能以他们的方式完成任务。”
参议院和众议院共和党人赞扬了川普的行动，佛罗里达州参议员里克·斯科特(Rick Scott)在X上的一篇帖子中说，“委内瑞拉和拉丁美洲的新一天已经到来”，阿肯色州参议员汤姆·科顿(Tom Cotton)说马杜罗“不仅仅是一个非法的独裁者;他还经营着一个庞大的贩毒集团。”
但这一行动遭到了民主党人的批评。
亚利桑那州参议员鲁本·加莱戈(Ruben Gallego)在x上的一篇帖子中抨击特朗普的举动，称这是“我一生中第二次不公正的战争”，“这场战争是非法的，令人尴尬的是，我们在不到一年的时间里从世界警察变成了世界恶霸。我们没有理由与委内瑞拉交战。”
最新事件发生之际，美国和委内瑞拉之间的紧张局势不断升级，包括美国在加勒比海的军事力量集结以及涉嫌走私毒品的船只成为目标。
大约有15，000名美国军事人员和美国杰拉尔德·福特号航空母舰在该地区。
这次手术也是在第一次已知的土地罢工针对一个码头进行，特朗普说毒品正在那里装船。
国际反应
委内瑞拉政府发表声明，谴责它所谓的“美利坚合众国现政府在加拉加斯和米兰达、阿拉瓜州和拉瓜伊拉州犯下的严重军事侵略”。
这组照片创作于2025年8月7日，展示了美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(左)于2025年7月9日在华盛顿特区，以及委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗(右)于2024年7月31日在加拉加斯。
吉姆·沃森，费德里科·帕拉/法新社
此外，根据声明，总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗(Nicolas Maduro)下令实施国防计划，并宣布“全国范围内的外部干扰状态”。
据该国外交部称，俄罗斯谴责这一行动是“对委内瑞拉的武装侵略行为”，并表示希望防止“进一步升级”。哥伦比亚总统古斯塔沃·佩德罗说“警告世界:委内瑞拉受到了攻击!”但川普的盟友、阿根廷总统哈维尔米勒对此举表示赞赏。
美国长期以来一直认为马杜罗是腐败独裁政权的首脑。2024年，马杜罗在广受争议的第三届总统选举后宣布胜利。
美国最近宣布马杜罗为恐怖组织头目
在11月的一次前所未有的举动中，特朗普政府宣布马杜罗外国恐怖组织的头目马杜罗对此予以否认。
这一认定将委内瑞拉领导人与基地组织和也门胡塞反叛组织等恐怖网络放在同一名单上。今年8月，卢比奥宣布美国将对导致马杜罗被捕的信息的奖励从2500万美元增加到5000万美元。
自2020年以来，马杜罗一直在美国面临毒品恐怖主义的指控，当时纽约的联邦检察官指控他与哥伦比亚反叛组织合作，“用可卡因淹没美国，以破坏国家的健康和福祉”。
指控包括毒品恐怖主义阴谋，可卡因进口阴谋和武器拥有阴谋。检察官指控马杜罗和14名现任或前任官员在过去20年里经营着一个庞大的犯罪企业，利用国家资源推动包括美国在内的国际毒品贸易。
US captures Maduro, carries out 'large scale strike' in Venezuela: Trump
President Donald Trump said the U.S. "successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela" and said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were "captured and flown out of the Country."
The announcement on Trump's social media platform came shortly before 4:30 a.m. Saturday a few hours after several explosions were heard in Venezuela's capital city of Caracas, witnesses said, and photos and videos showed plumes of smoke and a large fireball in the night sky.
In a move that alarmed some observers, Trump, who campaigned on "America First" and against foreign entanglements, said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago the U.S. would "run" Venezuela for an unspecified "period of time."
He said a team comprised of some of his Cabinet officials along with a local team in Venezuela would be "running the country" because there is "nobody to take over."
"We'll run it properly. We'll run it professionally. We'll have the greatest oil companies in the world go in and invest billions and billions of dollars and take out money, use that money in Venezuela, and the biggest beneficiary are going to be the people of Venezuela," Trump said.
The president suggested that U.S. troops could be involved in the effort. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground," he said.
And he said that the U.S. stood ready to carry out a "much bigger" second wave of attacks if needed.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, slammed Trump's announcement.
"The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans," he said in a press release. "The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price."
Trump said the operation was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. Members of Congress said the military, which sources said included the elite Delta Force, was in place to support that law enforcement operation.
There were no immediate reports of U.S. military deaths during the operation. However Trump and Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said some Americans were injured and that a helicopter was hit.
"I spoke with Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio this morning. He did share that we did have wounded personnel, but no killed, but that is never guaranteed in advance," Cotton said on Fox News.
The operation came amid escalating tensions with Maduro and the Venezuelan regime, and questions about the impetus behind a series of boat strikes targeting alleged drug shipping vessels.
'Speed and violence'
The president went into more detail about the operation later in an interview with Fox News, saying the attack was something nobody else could have done, and "extremely complex" executed with "speed and violence."
"The whole maneuver, the landings, the number of aircraft which were massive number, the number of helicopters, the different type of helicopters, different type of fighter jets, we had a fighter jet for every possible situation," he said in the phone interview.
"And really they just broke in, and they broke into places that were not really able to be, broke into, you know, steel doors that was were put there for just this reason, and they got taken out in a matter of seconds," he added.
The president said Maduro tried to escape, but was "bum rushed" by U.S. forces, according to the interview.
He said he had given Maduro off-ramps recently.
"Well, basically, I said, you have to give up. You have to surrender," Trump said in the interview.
Alleged 'narco-terrorism conspiracy'
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, "will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts" on a slew of charges in New York, including "narco-terrorism conspiracy" and "cocaine importation conspiracy" as well as weapons charges. Maduro has faced the charges in New York for years.
A federal indictment against Maduro, and his family was unsealed Saturday, saying he was "at the forefront" of a narco-terrorism conspiracy that imported tons of cocaine into the United States.
The indictment, handed up last month by a federal grand jury in New York, accused Maduro of allowing "cocaine-fueled corruption to flourish for his own benefit, the benefit of members of his ruling regime, and for the benefit of his family members."
The indictment named two of those family members, Maduro's wife Cilia and his son Nicolas, as part of the alleged conspiracy and, in total, charged six defendants with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons offenses.
Sources familiar with the matter told ABC News a plane carrying Maduro touched down in New York Saturday afternoon.
Maduro was expected to take a helicopter to New York City, accompanied by members of the Drug Enforcement Administration. He was then expected to head by motorcade to a location in the city for processing before being held in jail.
While the sources did not specify where Maduro will be held, defendants awaiting trial in federal court in Manhattan are customarily held at MDC-Brooklyn.
The operation that led to Maduro's capture was carried out by the Army's Delta Force after the CIA had identified the leader's precise location, according to two people familiar with the operation. Delta Force is an elite special operations group of soldiers trained in secret counterterrorism operations and hostage rescues.
A source said “the CIA had a small team clandestinely on the ground starting in August that was able to provide extraordinary insight into Maduro’s pattern of life that made grabbing him seamless.”
And that source said CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Rubio, top aide Stephen Miller and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth "formed a core team working this issue for months with consistent meetings and phone calls, sometimes even daily … often meeting both with the president and separately."
Trump told Fox News that he watched every aspect of the operation from Florida.
"He was in a, in a house that was more like a fortress than a house. It had steel doors. It had what they call a safety space," Trump said, adding that Maduro did not make it into the space before being captured.
The president said in preparation, the U.S. military built a replica house to train for the operation.
Maduro was taken by helicopter to the US Iwo Jima and would be transported to New York, according to Trump.
"The helicopters took 'em out, and they went by helicopter in a nice flight. I'm sure they loved it," he said.
One person told ABC News that Trump had given the green light to capture Maduro several days ago and troops were ready to strike on Christmas Day, but were delayed due tomilitary airstrikes in Nigeriaagainst ISIS. Subsequent opportunities were postponed partly due to weather, the person said.
CBS first reported the details on the operation.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, President Trump celebrated what he called the success of the mission to capture Maduro, who the U.S. has considered the head of a foreign terrorist organization since a November designation.
"A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people," Trump told The New York Times. "It was a brilliant operation, actually."
When asked whether he had sought congressional authorization for the operation or what would come next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those matters during his news conference at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday morning.
'No further action' anticipated
Republican Sen. Mike Lee, of Utah, said in a post on X that he spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the phone about the actions being taken in Venezuela after initially asking "what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force."
According to Lee, Rubio said that Maduro had been "arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States," and that the "kinetic action" was taken to protect those executing the warrant.
He also said that Rubio told him he anticipates "no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody."
"This was an incredibly dangerous operation to conduct," said ABC Contributor Mick Mulroy, a former CIA officer and senior Pentagon official. "It required precise intelligence, detailed planning and flawless execution by these Delta operators and all the support, especially the [Joint Special Operations Command] air component, to pull it off in the manner that they did."
Senate and House Republicans praised Trump's actions, with Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida saying "a new day is here for Venezuela and Latin America" in a post on X and Sen. Tom Cotton, of Arkansas saying Maduro "wasn't just an illegitimate dictator; he also ran a vast drug-trafficking operation."
But the action was criticized by Democrats.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, of Arizona, blasted Trump's move, calling it the "second unjustified war in my life time" in a post on X. "This war is illegal, it's embarrassing that we went from the world cop to the world bully in less than one year. There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela."
The latest events come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela including a build-up of U.S. military forces in the Caribbean and the targeting of alleged drug-smuggling boats.
Some 15,000 U.S. military personnel were in the area as well as the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier.
The operation also comes a short time after the first-knownland strikecarried out against a dock where Trump said drugs were being loaded onto boats.
International reaction
The Venezuelan government issued a statement condemning what it called "the grave military aggression perpetrated by the current government of the United States of America" in Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
This combination of pictures created on Aug. 7, 2025, shows US President Donald Trump (L) in Washington, D.C., on July 9, 2025, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (R) in Caracas on July 31, 2024.
Jim Watson, Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images
In addition, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the implementation of national defense plans, and declared a "state of External Disturbance throughout the national territory," according to the statement.
Russia condemned the action as "an act of armed aggression against Venezuela" and said it wanted to prevent "further escalation," according to the country's Foreign Ministry. And Colombian President Gustavo Petro said "Alert the world: Venezuela has been attacked!" in a post on X. But Trump ally and Argentinian president Javier Milei praised the move.
The U.S. has long considered Maduro the head of a corrupt dictatorial regime. In 2024, Maduro declared victory after a widely disputed presidential election for a third term.
US recently declares Maduro head of terror organization
In an unprecedented move in November, the Trump administration declared Madurothe head of a foreign terrorist organization, citing alleged links to drug cartels, which Maduro denied.
The designation put the Venezuelan leader on the same list as terror networks like al-Qaeda and the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. In August, Rubio announced the U.S. had increased the reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest from $25 million to $50 million.
Maduro has faced charges in the United States of narcotics-terrorism since 2020, when federal prosecutors in New York accused him of partnering with a Colombian rebel group to "flood the United States with cocaine in order to undermine the health and wellbeing" of the nation.
The charges include narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy and weapons possession conspiracy. Prosecutors allege that Maduro and 14 current or former officials ran a vast criminal enterprise for the last 20 years, using state resources to fuel the international drug trade, including in the U.S.
