Trump: ‘We’re going to run the country’
The US president has claimed at the press conference now under way in Florida that the United States is going to run Venezuela for the time being, although it’s unclear how that would be done.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said. He has given no details.
He just called Maduro a dictator and a drug kingpin.
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Updated at 16.50 GMT
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Trump is now being asked about US presence in Venezuela and what he means about “running the country”. He hasn’t illuminated this point yet.
“We’re designating people, we are talking to people,” the US president said. He’s now lapsed back into platitudes, as the press pool waits its turn to ask more question as the public seeks specifics.
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Updated at 17.20 GMT
United Nations secretary general condemns US action
The presidential press conference in Florida continues, with the chair of the joint chiefs talking about the operation itself overnight, and our live feed continues. But just as Trump was beginning the presser, the United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, had issued a statement via his spokesperson, so now seems a good time to bring that to our readers, via the Reuters news agency.
The secretary general is deeply alarmed by US military action in Venezuela, his spokesperson has said, and considered the US intervention “a dangerous precedent”.
A number of nations have called for an emergency meeting of the UN security council, in New York, today, as a result of the US’s unilateral action.
The UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said:
The secretary general continues to emphasize the importance of full respect – by all – of international law, including the UN charter. He’s deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.
The UN charter is the founding document of the global body. More on this shortly.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, on 17 December 2025. Photograph: Bianca Otero/ZUMA Press Wire/ShutterstockShare
Updated at 17.18 GMT
Donald Trump is reading from notes on paper in front of him on the podium at the press conference in Florida. He’s flanked on his right by the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and on his left by the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
The US president just warned those currently in government in Venezuela, in the absence of Nicolás Maduro, that “the US retains all military options” for further action in that South American country.
“All political and military figures in Venezuela must understand: what happened to Maduro will happen to them” if they defy US desires in the country for a leadership that serves the people, Trump said.
He said the “dictator and terrorist” Maduro “is finally gone”.
Standing to Hegseth’s left is the most senior military figure in the US, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Dan Caine. He is now addressing the public about the operation to snatch Maduro.
Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. Photograph: Alex Brandon/APShare
Updated at 17.08 GMT
‘US oil companies will fix the badly broken infrastructure’, says Donald Trump
Trump said Maduro’s leadership was “both horrible and breathtaking”.
“We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country, it’s their homeland,” the US president said.
“We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind [after] decades of that. We’re not going to let that happen.”
He continued: “We’re there now … We’re going to stay until such time as a proper transition can take place.”
He then added, about Venezuela’s vast oil reserves: “We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country and we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so. So we were prepared to do a second wave.” Trump said the US military was prepared to make a second wave of attacks in the latest action overnight into Saturday but that was not needed.
The details of how or on what authority or with what kind of agreements, if any, that the US intends to “run” Venezuela in transition are unclear at this time.
Trump and the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, at the press conference in Florida moments ago. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersShare
Updated at 17.04 GMT
Trump: ‘We’re going to run the country’
The US president has claimed at the press conference now under way in Florida that the United States is going to run Venezuela for the time being, although it’s unclear how that would be done.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said. He has given no details.
He just called Maduro a dictator and a drug kingpin.
Share
Updated at 16.50 GMT
Donald Trump begins press conference by praising US operation in Venezuela
Donald Trump has begun his press conference by praising the US operation in Venezuela overnight.
“This was one of the most stunning attacks and effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history,” the US president said.
“No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday, or frankly, in such a short period of time. All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with US law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night.”
Donald Trump approaches the podium for his press conference. Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/ReutersShare
Updated at 16.46 GMT
Here’s the US president to begin the press conference. Tune in.
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Donald Trump posts image of Nicolás Maduro on his social media
As we continue to await the presidential press conference from Florida that was due to begin 30 minutes ago, we can bring you another development.
Donald Trump has posted a picture on his Truth Social platform that he states is “Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima”.
It appears to show the captured Venezuelan president in handcuffs and with, possibly, sensory-deprivation accessories, including wrap-around sun goggles and headphones. Maduro is expressionless, his right hand gripping a small plastic water bottle and wearing a grey sweatshirt and sweat pants.
A handout image shows Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro after the US struck Venezuela and captured him, 3 January 2026. Photograph: Donald J Trump (@realDonaldTrump)/ReutersShare
Updated at 17.06 GMT
Tiago Rogero
According to María Corina Machado’s statement, Edmundo González Urrutia, who is in exile in Spain, “must immediately assume his constitutional mandate and be recognised as commander-in-chief of the national armed forces by all its officers and soldiers”.
“Today we are ready to assert our mandate and take power. Let us remain vigilant, active and organised until the democratic transition is achieved – a transition that needs all of us,” she wrote. “To Venezuelans inside our country: be ready to carry out what we will soon communicate through our official channels.”
It remains unclear what will happen next in Venezuela, when – or if – González Urrutia will return to the country, or whether he will take office as president-elect.
Machado ended her statement by declaring: “Venezuela will be free. We walk hand in hand with God, until the end,” wrote the former congresswoman, who, like other rightwing leaders in the region, frequently invokes God in her speeches and posts.
María Corina Machado and Edmundo González attend a prayer event in Caracas, Venezuela, on 21 2024. Photograph: Miguel Gutiérrez/EPAShare
Updated at 16.33 GMT
Tiago Rogero
Here is more of that statement from Venezuela’s main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, who is not in the country, having gone into exile for her own safety after the last election.
She said: “From today, Nicolás Maduro faces international justice for the atrocious crimes committed against Venezuelans and against citizens of many other nations. Faced with his refusal to accept a negotiated exit, the United States government has fulfilled its promise to enforce the law,” wrote the former congresswoman, who has long publicly supported US intervention to remove Maduro from power.
“We are going to restore order, free political prisoners, build an exceptional country and bring our children back home. We have fought for years, we have given everything, and it has been worth it. What had to happen is happening,” she added.
The conservative Machado enjoys broad popular support in Venezuela and was barred by the Maduro regime from running in the 2024 election, instead backing the retired diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia. The opposition later gathered voting records showing González Urrutia had won the election, but Maduro refused to concede defeat and remained in power. More to follow.
María Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest against Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, on 9 January 2025. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos/APShare
Updated at 16.27 GMT
Tiago Rogero
As we await the presidential press conference, which is now behind the originally signaled schedule, we can bring you a statement issued by Machado.
Venezuela’s main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, celebrated the capture of the dictator Maduro by the US and said the opposition was “ready to assert our mandate and take power”.
Machado has been outside Venezuela since undertaking a clandestine 5,500-mile journey that involved passing through multiple land checkpoints, being rescued after 12 hours in rough Caribbean waters aboard a flimsy boat by a team led by a former US special forces soldier, and then flying on a private jet to Oslo, Norway, to receive the Nobel peace prize.
Posting from an undisclosed location, Machado wrote to Venezuelans that “the time for freedom has arrived”. More to follow.
From left, Venezuelans David Nuñez, Lisbeth Garcia, Victor Gimenez gather outside El Arepazo restaurant with a banner of opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner Maíia Corina Machado amid celebrations following news of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s capture, earlier today in Doral, Florida. Photograph: Vanessa Alvarez/APShare
Updated at 16.21 GMT
Department of Justice releases new indictment against Nicolás Maduro and others
We have a copy of the fresh indictment against Nicolás Maduro, his wife, son and others, and you can read it here.
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Updated at 16.20 GMT
Donald Trump to hold press conference after Venezuelan president captured during strike
Donald Trump is about to hold a press conference about the events that unfolded in Venezuela overnight.
The US president will helm the meeting at his resort and residence Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, where he has been over the festive period.
The out-of-town traveling press pool that follows the president around will be present and we will bring you the news. You can also follow the event live in a feed we’ll put at the top of this blog as it gets under way, any minute now.
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Updated at 16.04 GMT
The US has filed a fresh indictment against captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, now including his wife, Cilia Flores, and others.
Filed in federal court in New York, it begins: “For over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States. NICOLAS MADURO MOROS, the defendant, is at the forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States.”
It continues: “ … the defendant, now sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking.”
It also lists among the defendants Maduro’s son, naming him as Nicolas Ernesto Maduro Guerra, “aka Nicolasito, aka The Prince”.
Nicolas Maduro and Cilia Flores wave as they arrive at the national assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on 24 May 2018. Photograph: Ariana Cubillos/APShare
Updated at 16.23 GMT
