Live Updates: U.S. Captures Venezuelan Leader, Trump Says
The oil tanker evading U.S. forces is broadcasting its location after more than two weeks of sailing dark, revealing that it is heading northeast in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The ship that had been known as Bella 1, which is still being tracked by the U.S. Coast Guard, is on a course that could take it between Iceland and Britain, according to data published by Pole Star Global, a ship-tracking company. From there, it is possible that the vessel could head around Scandinavia to Murmansk, Russia’s ice-free Arctic port.
The tanker recently claimed Russian protection. On Wednesday, the Russian government formally asked the United States to stop chasing the ship, which the Coast Guard tried to intercept last month as it traversed the Caribbean Sea on its way to pick up oil in Venezuela. The Bella 1 recently appeared in Russia’s official register of ships under a new name, the Marinera, with a home port of Sochi, on the Black Sea.
Ships like the Bella 1, part of a so-called shadow fleet that transports oil for Russia, Iran and Venezuela in violation of sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries, often turn off their transponders to hide their locations.
The pursuit of the tanker comes as President Trump intensifies his pressure campaign on the government of Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. Mr. Trump has instituted a quasi-blockade on some tankers transporting oil from the country, a longtime ally of Russia, and the United States has already boarded and taken possession of two other tankers in the Caribbean. American officials have said they plan to seize more ships.
The Bella 1 last broadcast its location on Dec. 17, showing it was in the Atlantic heading toward the Caribbean.
The Coast Guard stopped the ship on Dec. 20, saying it was not flying a valid national flag and that the United States had a seizure warrant. But the Bella 1 refused to be boarded and sailed back into the Atlantic.
The next day, the tanker began sending radio distress signals that showed it traveling northeast, more than 300 miles from Antigua and Barbuda.
As the slow-speed chase continued, the vessel claimed Russian protection, a diplomatic chess move that could complicate U.S. efforts to seize it. Boarding a moving vessel with a potentially hostile crew on the high seas is a dangerous mission that would require a specialized team of Coast Guard or Navy operators.
Last week, in a call between the foreign ministers of Russia and Venezuela, Moscow “reaffirmed its all-out support and solidarity with the leaders and people of Venezuela,” according to a summary of the call from Russia’s foreign ministry.
Tyler Pager and Edward Wong contributed reporting.
Live Updates: U.S. Captures Venezuelan Leader, Trump Says
President Trump announced that U.S. forces had carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” and were flying President Nicolás Maduro and his wife out of the country. The Trump administration had been building pressure on Mr. Maduro for months.
Witnesses report smoke coming out of major military installations in Venezuela’s capital of Caracas, including La Carlota military airbase and the Fuerte Tiuna military base. They also describe the sounds of planes and helicopters over Caracas.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Washington acknowledged the reports of explosions in Caracas but had no comment on any American role.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro, a critic of the Trump administration, wrote on social media: “Right now they are bombing Caracas. Alert to the whole world, they have attacked Venezuela. They are bombing with missiles.” There has been no acknowledgement or evidence so far that these explosions were caused by military action.
A Pentagon spokesman referred all questions about the explosions to the White House.
The White House declined to comment on the reports of explosions in Caracas.
Eyewitnesses report particularly heavy and ongoing sounds of explosions in Fuerte Tiuna, a sprawling military base in the center of Caracas that is home to Venezuela’s top brass and many senior government officials.
President Nicolás Maduro accused the United States of carrying out military attacks against Venezuela, in a statement released by Venezuela’s communications ministry. Venezuela “rejects, repudiates, and denounces” U.S. military aggression in the capital of Caracas and the states of Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira, it said.
The Federal Aviation Administration has barred American commercial planes from flying at any altitude over Venezuela, citing safety risks “associated with ongoing military activity.” Its notice, effective for 23 hours starting at 2 a.m. Saturday in Venezuela, did not say which military was involved.
President Trump is at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Many of his top national security advisers have spent significant time with him at the club, where the president has hosted foreign leaders in recent days. On Friday evening, Trump received a national security briefing, according to the White House.
Last month, we reported that Maduro had tightened his personal security amid escalating threats by the Trump administration. People close to the Venezuelan government said he was frequently changing sleeping locations and cellphones, and one said he had expanded the role of Cuban bodyguards in his personal security detail, to try to protect himself from a potential U.S. strike. Read the article here.
We are unsure where Maduro is at the moment. But at least some people in his inner circle appeared safe, according to two people who have spoken to them.
Eyewitnesses say the explosions in Caracas have eased up but there is still frequent noise from military planes over the city.
The U.S. embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, issued an alert to Americans in Venezuela, telling them to shelter in place, citing “reports of explosions in and around” the city. It did not give details. The United States suspended operations at its embassy in Caracas in 2019.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel of Cuba, in a social media post, denounced what he called a “criminal attack” by the United States against Venezuela, and demanded “urgent reaction” from the international community.
No senior Venezuelan government official or military officer has made a public appearance since the start of the explosions. The government broadcast an address on all television and radio frequencies, in which a state television journalist read out a statement condemning the attack.
The U.S. has been building up forces off Venezuela for months.
Before President Trump announced on Saturday that the United States had captured President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, the U.S. military had launched one of the largest deployments of its forces to the Caribbean region in decades.
The United States Southern Command said that about 15,000 troops were in the region by December. President Trump described them as a “massive armada.” In August, he had secretly signed a directive to the Pentagon to begin using military force against Latin American drug cartels that his administration had deemed terrorist organizations.
Since the signing, the United States had carried out 35 lethal strikes on boats that the administration said were carrying narcotics. The attacks have killed more than 100 people. Legal and military experts questioned the legality of the strikes. Congress has not authorized them, nor has it declared war on Venezuela.
Some Trump officials have said that the main goal of the increase in troops was to drive Mr. Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, from power. Hours before Mr. Trump announced the capture of Mr. Maduro and his wife, the Venezuelan government accused the U.S. military of carrying out attacks in the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country.
In recent months, the U.S. military buildup has included transport and cargo planes. Flight-tracking data reviewed by The New York Times showed C-17 heavy-lift cargo planes — largely used for transporting military troops and equipment — conducted at least 16 flights to Puerto Rico from American military bases in one recent week. The C-17s flew to Puerto Rico from bases in New Mexico, Illinois, Vermont, Florida, Arizona, Utah, Washington State and Japan.
The United States has also recently moved special-operations aircraft to the Caribbean.
Since October, the U.S. forces have included a Navy expeditionary strike group consisting of amphibious warships carrying thousands of Marines, along with warplanes, attack helicopters and other aircraft.
The buildup also brought the arrival in November of a full aircraft carrier strike group, with the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford and several destroyers loitering roughly 100 nautical miles off the shores of Venezuela.
The Ford and its air wing, however, have not been used to attack vessels suspected of smuggling drugs. Those attacks have been launched by drones and AC-130 gunships controlled by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command.
The U.S. Coast Guard has also begun chasing, boarding and even seizing oil tankers that the White House says are violating sanctions on Caracas.
Christiaan Triebert, John Ismay and Helene Cooper contributed reporting.
Venezuela’s defense minister, Gen. Vladimir Padrino Lopez, in a national address, denounces what he called a U.S. attack. “This invasion represents the most blatant outrage suffered by the country,” he says. This is the first public appearance by a senior Venezuelan official since the start of the explosions. General Padrino Lopez is Venezuela’s top ranking officer and is seen as a crucial member of Maduro’s coalition.
President Trump announces on social media that the United States has captured Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader, and his wife and that they are being flown out of the country.
President Trump says the United States carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela.” He said in his social media post that he will host a news conference in Mar-a-Lago at 11 a.m.
In a brief phone interview with The Times, President Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture Maduro. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” Trump said. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
When asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Trump said he would address those matters during his news conference at Mar-a-Lago in the morning.
If President Trump’s claim is true, the Venezuelan constitution states that power would pass to Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, who runs economic policy. But we are in uncharted territory and it is unclear who would end up in charge. The United States has not recognized Maduro as a legitimate president, and Venezuela’s opposition says the rightful president is the exiled politician Edmundo Gonzalez.
A U.S. official said there were no American casualties in the operation but would not comment on Venezuelan casualties.
Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, speaking on a state-run television station, says the whereabouts of Nicolás Maduro and his wife are unknown, and asks President Trump for proof of life.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said on social media that his country’s forces were being deployed to the border with Venezuela, and that there would be additional support “in the event of a massive influx of refugees.”
President Javier Milei of Argentina celebrated the capture of Nicolás Maduro. “Liberty advances,” Milei wrote on social media.
Video obtained by the Reuters news agency and verified by The Times shows smoke billowing near La Carlota Airport in Caracas, Venezuela, as explosions ring out.
The U.S. attack has left an unspecified number of Venezuelans dead and injured, Venezuelan officials said in statements. The number of casualties is still being assessed, they said.
President Trump sounded tired.
It was just after 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning and 10 minutes after he announced on social media that the United States had captured Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. I had called the president to try to better understand what happened and what comes next. He picked up after three rings and answered a few questions.
Mr. Trump first celebrated the mission’s success.
“A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” he told me. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
I then asked if he had sought congressional authority before the U.S. military, along with law enforcement personnel, engaged in a “large scale strike,” as he put in on social media.
“We’ll discuss that,” he said. “We’re going to have a news conference.”
In his social media announcement, Mr. Trump said he would speak at 11 a.m. from Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence where he has spent the past two weeks.
I tried to ask what he envisions next for Venezuela and why the high-risk mission was worth it.
“You’re going to hear all about it 11 o’clock,” he said before hanging up.
The call had lasted 50 seconds.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar of Trinidad and Tobago, who has expressed strong support for U.S. strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats near Venezuela, said on social media that her country was not involved in the U.S. military operations and maintains peaceful relations with Venezuela.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah said on social media that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told him in a phone call that Nicolás Maduro was “arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.” Lee said Rubio does not anticipate further action in Venezuela now that Maduro was in custody.
Nicolás Maduro was indicted in the United States on corruption, drug trafficking and other charges in 2020, and the State Department had announced a $50 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. In announcing the capture of Maduro, President Trump said it was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement. The indictment was sworn out in the Southern District of New York.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello of Venezuela, considered one of Nicolás Maduro’s top enforcers, called for calm in televised remarks and urged Venezuelans to trust the leadership. “Let no one fall into despair. Let no one make things easier for the invading enemy,” he said. Cabello also said, without providing evidence, that bombs had struck civilian buildings.
In one of his first social media posts since Trump announced Maduro’s capture, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reposted what he wrote in July of last year. It appears to be an attempt to push back against concerns, including from Republican lawmakers, about the legality of the strikes and capture. “Maduro is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government,” Rubio wrote in July 2025.
Pedro Sánchez, the left-wing prime minister of Spain who has spoken out against the Trump administration’s previous military actions in Venezuela, struck a new wary note on Saturday. “We urge everyone to de-escalate the situation and act responsibly. International law and the principles of the U.N. Charter must be respected,” he wrote on social media.
Venezuela’s attorney general, Tarek William Saab, made televised remarks condemning the U.S. attacks. “Innocent victims have been mortally wounded and others killed by this criminal terrorist attack,” he said and called for people to take to the streets “with calm and vigilance.” Saab also repeated demands that other officials have made for proof that Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were alive.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, would face “American justice on American soil in American courts.” She referenced his indictment in the Southern District of New York.
Anatoly Kurmanaev and Tyler Pager
Anatoly Kurmanaev reported from Venezuela, and Tyler Pager from West Palm Beach, Fla.
President Trump said on Saturday that the United States had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and was flying him out of Venezuela, in what would be a stunning culmination to a monthslong campaign by Mr. Trump’s administration to oust the authoritarian leader.
Mr. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform, and said that the United States had carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” in an operation that was conducted “in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.” He said that Mr. Maduro’s wife had also been captured.
Venezuelan officials said in statements that while a death and injury toll was still being assessed, Venezuelans had been killed in the strikes. A U.S. official said there had been no American casualties in the operation but would not comment on Venezuelan casualties.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times after the announcement, Mr. Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture the Venezuelan president. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” he said. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
When asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Mr. Trump said he would address those matters during a news conference at 11 a.m. at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla.
Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, speaking on a state-run television station after Mr. Trump’s announcement, said that Mr. Maduro’s location was unknown and asked Mr. Trump for proof he was alive.
Earlier on Saturday, the government of Venezuela accused the United States of carrying out military attacks in the capital, Caracas, and other parts of the country after large explosions were reported at a military base in the city.
The Venezuelan government declared a state of emergency in response to the attacks and said they had occurred in Caracas and in the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to a statement from the Venezuelan communications ministry.
Venezuela “rejects, repudiates and denounces” U.S. military aggression, the statement said. It also called on “on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and repudiate this imperialist attack.”
For months, Mr. Trump issued threats, warnings and accusations of drug smuggling against Mr. Maduro, whom the State Department has branded the head of a “narco-terrorist” state.
U.S. officials have called Mr. Maduro, a self-described socialist who has led Venezuela since 2013, an illegitimate leader and have accused him of controlling criminal groups tied to drug trafficking, charges he denies.
Since late August, the Pentagon has amassed troops, aircraft and warships in the Caribbean. The U.S. military has attacked many small vessels that U.S. officials maintained were smuggling drugs, killing at least 115 people. And the C.I.A. conducted a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela last month, according to people briefed on the operation.
A broad range of experts on the use of lethal force have said that the strikes on small vessels amount to illegal extrajudicial killings, but the Trump administration has asserted they are consistent with the laws of war because the United States is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels.
In recent weeks, the United States has also carried out a campaign against tankers carrying Venezuelan crude, throwing the country’s oil industry into disarray and jeopardizing the government’s main source of revenue.
The United States seized one sanctioned tanker carrying oil as it sailed from Venezuela toward Asia. It intercepted another oil vessel that was not under U.S. sanctions. And the U.S. Coast Guard tried to board a third tanker as it was on the way to Venezuela to pick up cargo.
Here is what else to know:
Maduro’s security: Before the U.S. operation on Saturday, the Venezuelan president had tightened his inner circle and taken to changing beds in an attempt to protect himself from a potential targeted strike or a special-forces raid.
U.S. buildup: Last month, C-17 cargo planes — largely used for transporting military troops and equipment — conducted at least 16 flights to Puerto Rico from American military bases, according to flight tracking data. The U.S. Southern Command has said that some 15,000 troops are already deployed in the Caribbean, one of the largest naval deployments to the region in decades.
Cartel accusations: In March 2020, Mr. Maduro was indicted in the United States on charges that he oversaw a violent drug organization known as Cartel de los Soles. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Mr. Maduro is actually at odds with one group, Tren de Aragua, and analysts say the Cartel de Los Soles does not exist as a concrete organization. The term has been used to refer to the involvement of many high-ranking military officers in the drug trade, though there is no evidence that Mr. Maduro directs the effort.
Genevieve Glatsky and Annie Correal contributed reporting.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, would face “American justice on American soil in American courts.” She referenced his indictment in the Southern District of New York.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau confirmed in a social media post that Nicolás Maduro has been removed from power and will be put on trial or punished.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said on social media on Saturday that both Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores had been indicted in the Southern District of New York. There has been no public indictment of her.
It appears, based on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s social media post that Nicolás Maduro has been charged in a new indictment. The existing charges filed in March 2020 do not include his wife, Cilia Flores. The earlier indictment, filed under seal, contained four counts, charging Maduro and five others with narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and conspiracy to possess machine guns.
Attention is now turning to the Venezuelan military’s response to the U.S. attacks. U.S. forces did not appear to have encountered significant resistance from Venezuelan air defenses or land forces, despite claiming to have an arsenal capable of confronting, if not repelling, such an incursion.
Two nights before his capture, Nicolás Maduro made a plea for peace in an interview with a Spanish journalist, Ignacio Ramonet, “The American people should know they have a friendly, peaceful people here, and a friendly government as well,” he said, looking at the camera. “They should know that our message is very clear: ‘Not War. Yes Peace,’” he added, saying his peace slogan in English. He then handed the journalist a red hat in the style of the Make America Great Again cap with the words: “No War. Yes Peace.”
In the same interview, Maduro said he was eager to work with the United States to avoid conflict. “If they want to have a serious conversation about an anti-drug agreement, we’re ready,” he said “If they want Venezuelan oil, Venezuela is ready for U.S. investment—like with Chevron—whenever, wherever, and however they want. People in the U.S. should know that if they want comprehensive economic development agreements, Venezuela is right here.”
Prosecutors in the Southern District had targeted Nicolás Maduro for years. The investigation into him was overseen by a former criminal defense lawyer to President Trump, Emil Bove III. One of the prosecutors on the 2020 case was Amanda Houle, who now leads the office’s criminal division.
With the original 2020 charges pending in the Southern District against Maduro, the U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, had referred to Maduro as a “fugitive from American justice,” which appeared to bolster the U.S. government’s efforts to oust Maduro and seize him as it would any criminal on the run from the law.
Spain, with its close ties to Latin America, offered to mediate and called for “de-escalation and restraint” in a statement from the foreign ministry. It said it was “ready to help in the search for a democratic, negotiated, and peaceful solution for the country.”
The 2020 indictment against Maduro said he had helped to manage and to eventually lead a drug trafficking organization as he gained power in Venezuela. Under his leadership, the indictment charged, the organization sought not only to enrich its members and enhance their power, but also to “flood” the U.S. with cocaine and use it as “a weapon against America.”
It is not uncommon for federal prosecutors to return what is known as a superseding indictment to add additional defendants or charges to an existing indictment. In this case, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s post on X suggests that a new indictment would add Maduro’s wife as a new defendant. The original indictment against Maduro made public in 2020 named him and other current and former Venezuelan officials as defendants.
Chevron, the largest private oil producer in Venezuela, declined to comment Saturday morning on the status of its operations in the country. “Chevron remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets,” a spokesman said.
Groups of armed apparent civilians have begun to hit the streets in Caracas, according to a journalist who saw them.
Several men in civilian clothes were seen just after daybreak guarding the Gen. Francisco de Miranda airbase outside of Caracas when the airstrikes hit.
Two pickup trucks filled with men wearing vests and civilian clothes carrying gas cans as well as both long weapons and handguns were seen unloading outside the Centro Comercial Ciudad Tamanaco, a shopping mall near the airbase.
Venezuela’s government has long used armed civilians, known as colectivos, to fight back against protesters.
Others charged in the 2020 indictment include Venezuela’s vice president for the economy, the country’s Minister of Defense and its chief Supreme Court justice, along with two leaders of Colombia’s FARC.
In his first comments since Maduro was captured, Vice President JD Vance applauded the success of the mission and defended its legality.
“Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narcoterrorism,” he wrote on social media. “You don’t get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas.”
Vance added that Trump offered “multiple off ramps” to Maduro. Trump had been was adamant that “the drug trafficking must stop” and that “the stolen oil” had to be returned to the United States, Vance said.
The governor of Sucre, about 325 miles east of Caracas, called for party militants to gather in the town square later in the day. The governor, Jhoanna Carrillo, appeared at the rally along with mayor Pedro Figueroa to show their loyalty to the president. “We demand that the entire world speak out against the threat and chaos they have tried to sow in our homeland,” Carrillo said.
A number of Republican lawmakers who represent districts in Southern Florida with large Venezuelan-American constituencies are celebrating the capture of Maduro. “Today’s decisive action is this hemisphere’s equivalent to the Fall of the Berlin Wall,” Representative Carlos Gimenez said in a social media post. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart “decisive leadership” that led to the capture of Maduro, and Representative Maria Salazar,“Now it’s time for the rightful leaders of Venezuela to restore freedom and rebuild the nation.”
In an interview on Fox News, Trump said that Maduro wanted to negotiate in the final days before U.S. forces captured him but the American president said he rejected that offer. “I didn’t want to negotiate,” he said. “I said, ‘Nope, we got to do it.’”
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