The United States conducted an overnight military strike on Venezuela on Saturday, Jan. 3, PresidentDonald Trumpsaid, and hasseized the nation's leader Nicolás Maduroand his wife.
The operation marks a dramatic escalation of action against Venezuela after months of rising tensions and military buildup by the U.S.
Here's what we know.
The overnight military operations
In a social media post Saturday, Jan. 3,Trump described a "large scale strike"against Venezuela. Images from within the country showed explosions, burning vehicles and plumes of smoke rising over the capital, Caracas, and other locations. Witnesses reported the sounds of low-flying jets. The extent of damage and casualties from the strikes was not immediately known.
US bombs targets in Venezuela and seizes Nicolás Maduro, Trump says
CBS News reported that members of the Army's elite Delta Force led the raid to capture Maduro and his wife. Considered the Army's equivalent to the Navy's SEAL Team 6, Delta Force soldiers are trained to conduct counterterrorism operations and raids against important targets.
Trump said he would hold a news conference at 11 a.m. ET at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Who is Nicolas Maduro?
Maduro, 63, has been thepresident of Venezuela since 2013. He was the hand-picked successor of the country's former leader, Hugo Chávez, and was narrowly elected president following Chávez's death.
His administration has overseen a spectacular economic collapse characterized by hyperinflation and chronic shortages. His rule became best known for allegedly rigged elections, food shortages and rights abuses, including harsh crackdowns on protests in 2014 and 2017. Millions of Venezuelans emigrated abroad.
He was sworn in for a third term in January 2025 following a 2024 election that was widely condemned by international observers and the opposition as fraudulent.
Maduro accused of drug trafficking by Trump administration
Allegations of drug trafficking and corruption have been leveled at Maduro and his inner circle for years. During Trump's first term, Maduro and several of his top officials and military generals were charged with narcoterrorism and collaborating with FARC, a Colombian leftist guerrilla group, to "flood" the United States with cocaine.
In July, the Trump administration sanctioned the so-called Cartel de los Soles, which it defined as a "Venezuela-based criminal group headed by Nicolas Maduro Moros and other high-ranking Venezuelan individuals in the Maduro regime." The administration designated it as a foreign terrorist organization.
Available data from federal agencies and the United Nations show Venezuela isnot a significant source of drugsflowing into the U.S., especially fentanyl. And experts say the Cartel de los Solesdoes not actually existas any kind of organized drug cartel.
Maduro will 'stand trial' in US, senators say
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi saidin a social media post on Xthat Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Maduro faces charges of "Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States," Bondi wrote. Bondi did not specify the charges against Flores.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee said in aposton X that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him Maduro would "stand trial on criminal charges in the United States."
"(Rubio) informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant," Lee wrote.
In a second post, Lee said Rubio "anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in U.S. custody."
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton said Saturday morning, Jan. 3, that he'd spoken to Marco Rubio and confirmed that Maduro is in U.S. custody and will face criminal charges.
Culmination of months of rising tensions
The strikes and seizure of Maduro came after months of U.S. military buildup in the region, as a sizeable American flotilla amassed in the southern Caribbean Sea.
Since early September, the U.S. has conducted a series ofattacks on alleged drug-trafficking boatsin international waters in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing at least 115 people.
The campaign escalated in December to include the seizure of oil tankers coming and going from Venezuelan ports. And just days before the Jan. 3 attack, President Donald Trump confirmeda covert land strikeagainst a dock facility in the country.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:US attacks Venezuela, captures Maduro. What we know so far.