Donald Trump has hailed a “brilliant operation” to capture Venezuela’s leader Nicolás Maduro.
The US president launched air strikes on Caracas earlier this morning using black hawk helicopters and chinooks, before breaking the extraordinary news that Mr Maduro and his wife had been taken into custody and flown out of the country.
In a post on Truth Social, Mr Trump said: “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow. There will be a News Conference today at 11 A.M., at Mar-a-Lago.”
In a phone interview with The New York Times, Mr Trump described the mission to capture Mr Maduro as a “brilliant operation”.
“A lot of good planning and a lot of great, great troops and great people,” Mr Trump said. He refused to confirm whether he had sought congressional authority, saying he would address that point at Mar-a-Lago in the morning.
The announcement followed eyewitness reports of at least seven explosions in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, overnight.
Footage showed smoke rising above the skyline as the Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency, saying strikes had occurred in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira.
The bombing raid came after months of threats and warnings from Mr Trump that he would take action if Venezuela did not stop drug-smuggling boats from heading towards America.
Mr Maduro was branded the head of a narco-terrorist state by the US State Department.
