The President of the United States (US), Donald Trump, has announced that his country will be in charge of Venezuela following the capture of the country’s President, Nicolas Maduro, by the American army.
Addressing the press on the invasion of Venezuela and the capture of Maduro and his wife on Saturday, January 3, 2026, Trump indicated that the US will not just hand over power to another regime.
He said that the US will be running the North American country till a “proper and judicious transition” is done.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.
“So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. And it has to be judicious, because that’s what we’re all about,” he said.
Trump administration invades Venezuela, captures President Maduro, wife
CNN’s report on the capture of Maduro and his wife:
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been captured and flown out of Venezuela after the US carried out a large-scale strike on the capital city of Caracas, US President Donald Trump announced.
He added that there will be “further details to follow.”
A CNN team earlier witnessed several explosions in Caracas and reported that some areas of the city were without electricity.
The first blast was recorded at approximately 1:50 AM local time on Saturday (12:50 AM ET).
Trump has repeatedly warned that the US is preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan Defence Minister, Vladimir Padrino López, had earlier said the US attack on Saturday impacted urban areas across Venezuela, with missiles and rockets fired from American combat helicopters.
He said Venezuela is currently gathering information about the number of people killed and wounded, and confirmed the Fort Tiuna military installation in Caracas was attacked.
López insisted the country would resist the presence of foreign troops in the country.
“This invasion represents the greatest outrage the country has suffered,” he added.
BAI
Meanwhile, watch as Acting Defence Minister Ato Forson inaugurates 9-Member Ministerial Advisory Board

