The U.S. military pulled off a months‑in‑the‑making operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
President Trump revealed that elite Army Delta Force commandos came within steps of Maduro’s steel‑reinforced hideout in Caracas, stopping the Venezuelan leader before he could secure himself in what was meant to be an impregnable safe room.
“He was trying to get into a safe place … the safe place is all steel, and he wasn’t able to make it to the door because our guys were so fast,” Trump said.
The president added that the assault team moved in “in a matter of seconds,” recounting live footage‑like intensity.
“I watched it literally like I was watching a television show — it was an amazing thing.”
Elite Forces and Night Stalkers Lead the Charge
The ground assault was executed by Army Delta Force commandos transported by the famed 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the Night Stalkers.
Modified MH‑60 and MH‑47 helicopters delivered troops via low‑level, nighttime insertions as U.S. aircraft dismantled Venezuela’s air defenses ahead of the move into Caracas.
“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.”
At a morning press briefing at Mar‑a‑Lago, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said months of intelligence gathering produced detailed insights that helped U.S. forces pinpoint Maduro’s location and daily habits.
The C.I.A. used a combination of stealth drones and a human source close to Maduro to track his movements, according to people briefed on the mission. That intelligence campaign began as early as August and combined aerial surveillance with on‑the‑ground sources.
Before the raid, U.S. forces trained on a full mock‑up of Maduro’s compound.
“They actually built a house which was identical to the one they went into with all the safes and all the steel all over the place,” Trump told Fox & Friends.
Operation Absolute Resolve Unfolds Under Tight Weather Window
Trump said the assault – dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve – was launched at 10:46PM on Friday after a brief weather window opened, kicking off a meticulously choreographed mission that lasted about two hours and 20 minutes.
“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.
Trump later described how Maduro tried to reach a steel‑reinforced safe room but was stopped before making it inside.
“He was trying to get into it, but he got bum rushed so fast that he didn’t get into that area,” Trump said, noting that U.S. troops were prepared with blowtorches to cut through steel if necessary.
Massive Aerial Campaign and Ground Assault
Gen. Caine explained that after the go‑ahead, aircraft launched from roughly 20 land and sea bases, with Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Air National Guard units providing cover. B‑1 bombers hovered overhead as the assault unfolded.
“Over the course of the night, aircraft began launching from 20 different bases on land and sea,” Caine said. “In total, more than 150 aircraft — bombers, fighters, intelligence, surveillance and rotary‑wing — were in the air.”
U.S. forces reached the compound inside the Fort Tiuna military complex just after 1:01AM, Caine said, with the apprehension team moving with “speed, precision and discipline.”
Helicopters providing air support came under fire, and one was hit but remained flyable.
Explosions reportedly rocked Caracas just before 2:00AM as U.S. aircraft returned fire, with local reports from AFP correspondents confirming the violence on the ground.
“They knew we were coming,” Trump said. “But they were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated.”
Caine said U.S. warplanes neutralized Venezuelan air defenses so the capital could be reached, while parts of Caracas lost power in what officials described as a cyber operation.
“The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have,” Trump said. “It was dark, it was deadly.”
Mission Complete and Maduro in Custody
By 3:29AM, helicopters were reporting back over water as the forces withdrew.
“There were multiple self‑defense engagements as the force began to withdraw out of Venezuela,” Caine said.
By the end of the mission, Caine said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, “gave up” and were “taken into custody by the Department of Justice.”
The youngest American involved in the operation was 20, the oldest was 49, Caine said. Despite heavy action, both Trump and Caine confirmed that there were no U.S. fatalities.
“Not a single American service member was killed,” Trump said, adding that no equipment was lost. Two U.S. officials later said roughly half a dozen U.S. service members were injured, including personnel on the aircraft that was hit.
Officials from Venezuela told the New York Times that at least 40 Venezuelans, including soldiers and civilians, were killed in the assault.