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CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said its president, Nicolas Madurohad been captured and expelled from the country after months of increased pressure from Washington – an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by the president. Donald Trump on social networks a few hours after the attack.
Multiple explosions rang out and low-flying planes flew over Caracas, the capital, as Maduro’s government immediately accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations.
The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
It was not immediately clear who was leading the country and it was unclear where Maduro was. Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET. Under Venezuelan law, the vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would take power. There was no confirmation of what had happened, although she issued a statement after the strike.
“We don’t know where President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores are,” Rodriguez said. “We demand proof of life.”
Maduro, Trump said, “was, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the country. This operation was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. Details will follow.” He set a press conference for Saturday morning.
The legal implications of the strike under U.S. law were not immediately clear. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, posted on X that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who informed him of the strike. Rubio told Lee that Maduro “was arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.”
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife. Maduro was indicted in March 2020 for “narcoterrorism” conspiracy in the Southern District of New York.
Maduro last appeared on state television Friday while meeting with a delegation of Chinese officials in Caracas.
Explosions in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, early on the third day of 2026 – at least seven explosions – sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing the explosions.
It was not immediately clear whether there were casualties on both sides.
The attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes and it was unclear whether further action was forthcoming, although Trump said in his message that the strikes were carried out “successfully.”
The Federal Aviation Administration banned U.S. commercial flights in Venezuelan airspace due to “ongoing military activity” before the explosions.
The strike came after the Trump administration spent months ramping up pressure on Maduro. The CIA was behind a drone strike last week on a docking area allegedly used by Venezuelan drug cartels – the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since US strikes began in September.
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For months, Trump had threatened that he could soon order strikes on targets on Venezuelan territory, after months of attacks on boats accused of transporting drugs.
Maduro has denounced the US military operations as a thinly veiled attempt to oust him from power.
Some streets of Caracas are filling up
Armed individuals and uniformed members of a civilian militia took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other parts of the city, the streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without electricity, but vehicles moved freely.
Video obtained in Caracas and an unidentified coastal town showed tracers and smoke obscuring the sky as loud, repeated explosions lit up the night sky. Other images showed a cityscape with cars passing on a highway as explosions lit up the hills behind them. Unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos have been verified by the Associated Press.
Smoke was seen rising from the hangar of a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.
“The whole ground shook. It’s horrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said Carmen Hidalgo, a 21-year-old office worker, her voice shaking. She was walking briskly with two relatives, returning from a birthday party. “It felt like the air was hitting us.”
Pedestrians run after explosions and low-flying planes were heard in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix).
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The Venezuelan government responded to the attack with a call for action. “People in the street! » he said in a statement. “The Bolivarian government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and reject this imperialist attack. »
The statement added that Maduro had “ordered the implementation of all national defense plans” and declared “a state of external disturbance.” This state of emergency gives him the power to suspend the rights of the people and expand the role of the armed forces.
The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post closed since 2019, issued a warning to U.S. citizens in the country, saying it was “aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”
“US citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.
The reaction begins to emerge
Inquiries to the Pentagon and U.S. Southern Command since Trump’s social media post have gone unanswered.
The FAA warned all U.S. commercial and private pilots that airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao, just off the country’s coast to the north, was off-limits “due to flight safety risks associated with ongoing military activity.”
Lee expressed potential concerns, reflecting the view of the right flank of Congress. “I look forward to knowing what, if anything, could constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee said on X.
It was unclear whether the U.S. Congress had been officially informed of the strikes.
The Armed Services Committees in both houses of Congress, which have jurisdiction over military matters, have not been informed of any action by the administration, according to a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss it.
Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have expressed deep reservations and categorical objections to U.S. attacks on suspected drug trafficking boats near the Venezuelan coast and Congress has not specifically approved authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the military action and Maduro’s capture mark “a new dawn for Venezuela,” saying “the tyrant is gone.” He posted X hours after the strike. His boss, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reposted a message from July that Maduro “is NOT the president of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government.”
Cuba, a supporter of the Maduro government and longtime adversary of the United States, called on the international community to respond to what President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez called the “criminal attack.” “Our peace zone is being brutally attacked,” he said on X. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the strikes.
Argentine President Javier Milei greeted his close ally Trump’s claim that Maduro had been captured with a political slogan he often uses to celebrate right-wing gains: “Long live freedom, damn it!”
The US military has been attacking ships in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat collisions was 35 and the number of people killed was at least 115, according to figures announced by the Trump administration.
They followed a significant buildup of U.S. forces in the waters off South America, including the November arrival of the country’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands more troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in generations.
Trump has justified the boat strikes as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and claimed the United States is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
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Toropin and AP reporter Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington.
