Donald Trump has vowed to run Venezuela until a ‘safe transition’ can take place,as ousted president Nicolas Maduro landed in New York.
The US president published the photo of the former leader strapped in a harness,wearing eye glasses and ear protectors.
Trump also pledged to pump ‘billions of dollars’ into exploiting oil-rich country’s natural resources.
Venezuela’s president and his wife were at their home in Fort Tiuna military installation in Caracas when they were ‘kidnapped’.
Nahum Fernández,the ruling party leader,said: ‘That’s where they bombed. And,there,they carried out what we could call a kidnapping of the president and the first lady of the country.’
Earlier today,Trump confirmed Maduro’s capture in a post on X and US attorney general Pam Bondi later said that the leader and his wife,Cilia Flores,are both indicted in the Southern District of New York.
She added on X: ‘They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts.’
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January 3,2026 10:56 pm
Maduro pictured arriving in Newburgh,New York on Saturday afternoon (Picture: Reuters)
We have some pictures of Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores arriving in New York after they were both arrested in Caracas overnight.
The former Venezuelan president was captured landing at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh.
Nicolas Maduro with his wife Cilia Flores disembarking from a federal aircraft at Stewart Air National Guard Base (Picture: Reuters)
He will be transferred to New York city centre where he is to be taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn,according to reports.
Both him and his wife are expected to appear at the Manhattan Federal Court having been charged with narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
January 3,2026 10:35 pm
Ryan Prosser
Protests have taken place today across major cities around the world,both in support of and against Trump’s operation. Here’s a selection of pictures as people took to the streets:
Crowds gather on Saturday morning for a protest in the centre of Madrid,Spain (Picture: EPA)
Protesters deface the walls of the US embassy in Mexico City (Picture: Reuters)
A protest took place outside the US embassy in Nine Elms,London on Saturday.
Campaigners protest against the US intervention in Venezuela outside the American embassy in London (Picture: EPA)
The suburb of Doral is sometimes nicknamed Doralzuela for its large community of expats.
Protests,many of whom were among those who had fled Maduro’s regime,expressed hope at his downfall.
People celebrate the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Doral near Miami,Florida,an area home to a large Venezuelan expat community (Picture: AFP)
January 3,2026 10:16 pm
Supports of ousted president Nicolas Maduro burn a US flag near Miraflores Palace in Caracas (Picture: Getty Images)
Time for another roundup of reaction from world leaders on the developing situation in Venezuela.
French president Emmanuel Macron backed a government led by opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez.
He wrote: ‘The transition to come must be peaceful,democratic,and respectful of the will of the Venezuelan people.’
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among a handful of leaders to back Trump’s intervention.
‘Congratulations,President @realDonaldTrump for your bold and historic leadership on behalf of freedom and justice. I salute your decisive resolve and the brilliant action of your brave soldiers’,he wrote on X.
Sir Keir Starmer said he was waiting to ‘establish the facts’ and wanted to speak to Trump.
He told broadcasters: ‘I can be absolutely clear that we were not involved … and I always say and believe we should all uphold international law.’
Brazilian president Lula Inacio Lula da Silva,said that the US operation had crossed ‘an unacceptable line’.
He added: ‘Attacking countries in flagrant violation of international law is the first step toward a world of violence,chaos,and instability,where the law of the strongest prevails over multilateralism.’
January 3,2026 9:43 pm
The plane carrying Nicolas Maduro has now landed in New York,according to reports.
Maduro has been taken to the Big Apple where it is expected he will face the US judicial system on charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to supply cocaine.
January 3,2026 9:31 pm
As things stand,it is unclear who is governing Venezuela or what the next steps will be for the south American country.
While Donald Trump used a press conference in Mar-a-Lago to suggest that vice-president Delcy Rodriguez had been sworn in as leader and would govern under US direction,Rodriguez countered the president’s words with a statement doubling down on her support for Maduro.
Meanwhile,the main opposition figure Maria Corina Machado has expressed support for 2024 election winner Edmundo Gonzalez to assume his ‘constitutional mandate’.
However Trump has refused to be drawn on whether he would allow this to happen,instead expressing doubts that Machado had the ‘respect’ to take office.
January 3,2026 9:12 pm
Donald Trump watching footage of the Maduro operation in Caracas from his Florida resort (Picture: Reuters)
The capture of Nicolas Maduro has been supported by members of Trump’s cabinet.
However the president is facing some backlash from within the wider Republican party,with some MAGA loyalists saying his latest move departs from his election promises to focus on domestic politics.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Green,who is standing now as member for Georgia next week,said that Trump’s intervention in Venezuela was a break with his America First pledge.
She said: ‘This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.’
It comes as Secretary of State Marco Rubio called some Republican Congress members in an attempt to head off opposition.
Senator Mike Lee was among Republicans questioning the decision to launch the attack without authorisation,but said he had been convinced the operation fell within the president’s authority after speaking to Rubio.
At the Mar-a-Lago press conference,Rubio told reporters that the sudden nature of the operation meant it was impossible to consult Congress beforehand.
January 3,2026 9:00 pm
Residents in Caracas in the military complex of Fuerte Tiuna leave their homes (Picture: Anadolu)
The UN Security Council is to meet on Monday to discuss the US operation in Venezuela.
UN secretary-general Antonio Gutierres said the attack on Maduro had set ‘a dangerous precedent’.
The latest meeting is at the request of both Russia and China,as well as Venezuela’s neighbour Colombia.
Samuel Moncada,Venezuela’s UN ambassador,wrote to the 15-member council today.
He said: ‘This is a colonial war aimed at destroying our republican form of government,freely chosen by our people,and imposing a puppet government that allows the plundering of our natural resources,including the world’s largest oil reserve.’
January 3,2026 8:43 pm
Sir Keir Starmer has said ‘we shed no tears’ for the end of Maduro’s regime (Picture: EPA)
Sir Keir Starmer has backed a transition of power in Venezuela following Maduro’s removal.
The Prime Minister said in a statement this evening that ‘we shed no tears’ for the fallen regime and said he would be discussing the ‘ongoing situation’ with American counterparts over the coming days.
He said: ‘The UK has long supported a transition of power in Venezuela.
‘We regarded Maduro as an illegitimate president and we shed no tears about the end of his regime.
‘I reiterated my support for international law this morning.’
January 3,2026 7:32 pm
Venezuelan vice-president Delcy Rodriguez speaking from Caracas on Saturday afternoon (Picture: BBC)
We’ve just heard from Venezuela’s vice-president Delcy Rodriguez speaking from Caracas.
She has condemned the ‘unprecedented act of aggression’ from the US and has called for the captured president Nicolas Maduro to be freed.
The US operation had only one objective: to bring about regime change to capture the country’s natural resources,she claimed.
‘We are ready to defend Venezuela’,she said.
Rodriguez insisted that Maduro is the only legitimate president of Venezuela.
Under Venezuelan law,Rodriguez is president in Maduro’s absence,but she didn’t say she had been sworn in as leader.
During his press conference,Donald Trump implied he would work with Rodriguez during the transition phase,however the vice-president’s latest intervention suggests she may not be on board with this.
January 3,2026 7:14 pm
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani has condemned the attack on Caracas (Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
As Nicolas Maduro is brought to New York to face criminal charges,they city’s newly-elected mayor has condemned the operation that removed him from office.
Zohran Mamdani said he had been briefed on the attack on Caracas.
But the Democratic mayor said he condemned the unilateral move.
He wrote on X: ‘Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.
‘This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad,it directly impacts New Yorkers,including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home.
‘My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker,and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance.’
January 3,2026 7:09 pm
Venezuelan attorney general Tarek William Saab gestures to cameras outside the vice-presidency building in Caracas (Picture: AFP)
Some more updates from the Venezuelan capital Caracas,where the country’s attorney general Tarek William Saab has emerged from the vice-presidency building.
The senior lawyer had his left arm raised in the air and hand clenched hours after US forces captured the nation’s president,Nicolas Maduro.
A loyalist of the former leader,Saab was a member of Hugo Chavez’s Fifth Republic Movement.
He was appointed to his current role in 2017 and is currently sanctioned by several countries including the US.
January 3,2026 7:00 pm
Donald Trump watching footage of the Caracas attack with CIA director John Ratcliffe and other senior officials (Picture: Reuters)
Trump has shared pictures of himself and ministers watching the operation in Caracas.
The president was shown watching Maduro being arrested with CIA director John Ratcliffe at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
January 3,2026 6:55 pm
Marco Rubio,the US Secretary of State,said he would be concerned if he was the Cuban government (Picture: Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio strongly implied that the Trump administration could turn its attention to Cuba next.
Rubio told the press conference: ‘If I lived in Havana and I was in the government,I’d be concerned at least a little bit.’
The US has historically clashed with Cuba,another openly socialist country,including its attempted toppling of Fidel Castro in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.
January 3,2026 6:38 pm
One of Donald Trump’s obvious interests within Venezuela is its extensive oil reserves.
Venezuela is thought to be world’s richest in oil,with an estimated 300 billion barrels of known reserves,exceeding that of all Arab nations and even oil giant Saudi Arabia.
Back in 2006,the US imported 1.4 million barrels of crude oil each day.
However oil exports from Venezuela faltered under Maduro’s leadership.
In his address,Trump reiterated several times his ambition for US companies to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry.
He said American firms would invest ‘billions of dollars’ getting oil flowing,for which they would be ‘reimbursed’.
Venezuela’s oil is heavy by international standards,meaning it flows less easily from wells than its lighter counterpart and needs specialist processing to refine into fuel.
January 3,2026 6:25 pm
Venezuelans in Lima,Peru celebrate the end of Maduro’s regime (Picture: AP)
More than eight million people have fled Venezuela under Maduro since 2014.
Among them was Niurka Mélendez,the founder of Venezuelans and Immigrants Aid. an advocacy group for immigrants.
She left Venezuela in 2015 and now lives in New York.
‘For us,it’s just the start of the justice we need to see’,she said of Maduro’s ousting.
Alejandra Arrieta,who came to the U.S. in 1997,said: ‘There’s fears. There’s excitement. There’s so many years that we’ve been waiting for this. Something had to happen in Venezuela. We all need the freedom.’
Pictures have emerged of Venezuelan expats in south America,the US and Europe celebrating the end of Maduro’s regime.
January 3,2026 6:08 pm
Venezuelan vice president Delcy Rodriguez would be president under the country’s law (Picture: EPA)
Under Venezuelan law,Maduro’s deputy Delcy Rodriguez would take up the helm.
There is however no evidence this has happened as of Saturday afternoon.
Rodriguez,who according to sources is currently in Russia,issued a statement earlier asking for proof of life for Maduro and his wife
January 3,2026 5:45 pm
Ryan Prosser
Well the Trump news conference has just finished. Here are the key takeaways.
Donald Trump addressing reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate (Picture: The White House)
The US will take control of Venezuela until a ‘safe,proper and judicious transition’
Senior US politicians and officials will play a role in the transition administration,Trump suggested
The US president implied that he may not support a government led by Maria Machado saying she was a ‘nice woman’ but not sufficiently respected to take on the role
US firms will rebuild and pump ‘billions of dollars’ into Venezuela’s oil industry
January 3,2026 5:38 pm
The Ukraine war has become a ‘bloodbath’,Trump has said (Picture: AFP)
The last question is on Putin and Ukraine.
Trump admits he’s ‘not thrilled’ with the Russian autocrat.
He says: ‘He’s killing too many people’.
He also admits that the war has been harder to end than he thought. It has become a ‘bloodbath’,he says.
‘If I were president it [the war] would never have happened’,he claims.
January 3,2026 5:31 pm
Ryan Prosser
Trump is asked about the possibility of opposition figure Maria Corina Machado running Venezuela.
He says Machado is a ‘nice lady’ but doesn’t have the ‘respect’ to run the country.
But he also confirms he has yet to contact her.
January 3,2026 5:28 pm
Ryan Prosser
Trump says he will generate billions of dollars from Venezuela’s oil industry (Picture: Reuters)
Trump is asked about what this means for Russia and China.
He replies in commercial terms,saying that other countries will be able to buy oil pumped out of Venezuela.
He clarifies this is when things are ‘straightened out’ with Putin’s regime.
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