How US forces captured Venezuela’s Maduro in ‘extraordinary’ raid

The US military unleashed a stunning overnight show of force to capture Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro, deploying more than 150 aircrafts, elite ground troops and overwhelming airpower — a mission months in the making.  

“It could have happened,” President Donald Trump said Saturday, recounting how close Maduro came to reaching safety as US forces closed in. 

He said the Venezuelan dictator was stopped just steps from the steel doors of his fortified compound as gunfire erupted outside.

“He was trying to get into a safe place … the safe place’s all steel, and he wasn’t able to make it to the door because our guys were so fast,” Trump said.

“People were wondering, do we get them by surprise?” Trump added. “Sort of surprised, but they were waiting for something. It was a lot of opposition.

“There was a lot of gunfire.”

Speaking shortly before noon Saturday from Mar-a-Lago, Trump said the raid on Caracas — dubbed Absolute Resolve — was ordered at 10:46 p.m. Friday after weather briefly cleared, setting off a tightly choreographed mission that unfolded over just more than two hours.

“At my direction, the United States Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela,” Trump said. 

“Overwhelming American military power, air, land and sea, was used to launch a spectacular assault, and it was an assault like people have not seen since World War II,” he added.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said helicopters carrying the extraction force lifted off first, protected by the Marines, Navy, Air Force and Air National Guard as B-1 bombers loomed overhead. 

US warplanes dismantled Venezuelan air defenses — allowing helicopters to push into Caracas.

“We arrived at Maduro’s compound at 1:01 a.m.,” Caine said, describing how an apprehension force “moved with speed, precision and discipline.” 

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “gave up” and were “taken into custody by the Department of Justice,” he said.

Caine said the operation involved aircraft launching across the hemisphere.

One US aircraft was hit but remained flyable. 

The youngest US service member involved was 20, the oldest 49, according to Caine.

“The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have. It was dark, it was deadly,” Trump said, adding that no nation in the world “could achieve what America achieved yesterday.”

Despite the intensity, Trump and Caine said there were no US fatalities. 

“Not a single American service member was killed,” Trump said, adding that no equipment was lost.

Behind the scenes, US intelligence had been quietly tracking Maduro for months. 

Alex Plistsas, an ex-senior US intelligence official and Atlantic Council fellow, told The Post that the CIA had a small team on the ground since August, building a “pattern of life” on Maduro and developing sources.

“The operation was supposed to go down a few days ago, but the weather wasn’t good,” Plitsas said. 

Once conditions improved, the CIA fed the intelligence forward and the US Army Delta Force team led the raid.

The ground force was bolstered by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team because the mission was executed under a federal arrest warrant tied to narcoterrorism charges dating back to 2020.

 “It was actually really conducted under law enforcement authorities with U.S. military support,” Plitsas said.

Maduro and Flores were flown out by helicopter and later placed on a warship bound for New York City, where Trump said they will face trial.

“Right now, they’re on a ship,” Trump said. “They’ll be heading to, ultimately, New York.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the raid as “flawlessly executed,” saying Trump was “deadly serious” about stopping drugs and gangs. 

“Nicolás Maduro had his chance,” Hegseth said. “He effed around and he found out.”

Trump said the US was prepared to launch a second larger wave if needed, but quickly realized it wouldn’t be necessary.

The capture raised immediate questions about who will take over Venezuela.

“Most of the cabinet ministers are still alive and running around in Venezuela, so it’s not clear who’s in charge,” Plitsas said.

Trump, however, made clear the US intends to stick around. 

“We are going to run the country,” he said. “We’re there now.”

U.S. companies will enter Venezuela, Trump added, and “start making money for the country,” with a heavy focus on oil.

Asked whether US troops could be deployed in Venezuela, Trump brushed off concerns, saying, “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”