CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The United States launched a “large-scale strike” in Venezuela early Saturday and said its President Nicolas Maduro had been arrested and taken out of the country after months of mounting pressure from Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation that President Donald Trump announced on social media hours after the attack.
Several explosions and low-flying aircraft swept over the capital, Caracas, after Maduro’s government quickly accused the United States of attacking civilian and military installations. The Venezuelan government called it an “imperialist attack” and urged citizens to take to the streets.
It was not immediately clear who was running the country, and Maduro’s whereabouts were not immediately known. Trump announced the developments on Truth Social shortly after 4:30 a.m. ET.
Maduro, Trump said, “has been arrested and taken out of the country, along with his wife. This operation was carried out in cooperation with US law enforcement. Details to follow.” He organized a press conference on Saturday morning.
Explosions – at least seven – in the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on the third day of 2026 sent people running into the streets, while others took to social media to report hearing and seeing explosions. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties. The apparent attack itself lasted less than 30 minutes, but it was unclear whether more actions were ahead, although Trump said in his post that the attacks were “successfully” carried out.
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ban on U.S. commercial flights over Venezuelan airspace due to “ongoing military activity” prior to the eruption.
This strike came after the Trump administration increased pressure on Maduro, who is accused of drug terrorism in the United States. The CIA was behind last week’s drone strike on a docking area believed to be used by Venezuelan drug cartels – the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US launched its offensive in September.
After months of attacking boats suspected of carrying drugs, Trump threatened to order strikes on targets on Venezuelan soil. Maduro has condemned the U.S. military operation as an attempt to oust him from power.
Some streets in Caracas are full
Armed men and uniformed members of citizen militias took to the streets of a Caracas neighborhood long considered a stronghold of the ruling party. But in other parts of the city, streets remained empty hours after the attack. Parts of the city remained without electricity, but vehicles moved freely.
Video from Caracas and an unidentified coastal city showed tracers and clouds of smoke in the landscape sky as repeated silent explosions lit up the night sky. Other footage shows an urban landscape with cars passing by on a highway as explosions light up the mountains behind them. An unintelligible conversation could be heard in the background. The videos were verified by the Associated Press.
Smoke could be seen billowing from a hangar at a military base in Caracas, while another military installation in the capital was without power.
“The whole ground shook. It’s terrible. We heard explosions and planes,” said 21-year-old office worker Carmen Hidalgo, her voice shaking. She was walking fast with two relatives on her way back from a birthday party. “It felt like we got hit by the wind.”
Trump is at his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he has spent the past two weeks for the holiday season. His public schedule showed he was set to receive an intelligence briefing on Friday evening, ahead of the reported strikes. He did not immediately respond on social media.
Venezuela’s government has called for action against the attack. “People in the streets!” said in a statement. “The Bolivarian government calls on all social and political forces in the country to activate mobilization plans and reject this imperialist attack.”
The statement added that Maduro had “ordered the implementation of all national defense plans” and declared a “state of external unrest”. That state of emergency gives him the power to suspend people’s rights and expand the role of the armed forces.
The website of the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela, a post that has been closed since 2019, issued a warning to U.S. citizens in the country “to be aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas.”
“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place,” the warning said.
Inquiries into Pentagon and US Southern Command after Trump’s social media posts went unanswered. The FAA warned all commercial and private US pilots that airspace over Venezuela and the small island nation of Curacao off the country’s coast to the north is off limits “due to safety-flight risks associated with ongoing military activity.”
US Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reflects a view from the right wing in Congress, posting his potential concerns. “I look forward to learning what constitutionally justifies this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force,” Lee said at X.
Regional response was not immediately available in the early hours of Saturday. Cuba, however, is a supporter of the Maduro government and a longtime adversary of the United States, xxxxx. Iran’s foreign ministry also condemned the attack.
It is unclear whether the US Congress was officially notified of the strike.
The administration has not notified the armed services committees, which have jurisdiction over military affairs, of any action, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
Lawmakers from both political parties in Congress have voiced strong and outspoken objections to U.S. attacks on suspected drug-trafficking boats near the Venezuelan coast, and Congress has not specifically approved authorization for the use of military force in the region.
causing stress
The US military has been attacking boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern Pacific Ocean since early September. As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes is 35 and the number of people killed is at least 115, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration.
They followed a massive build-up of US forces in South American waters, including the arrival in November of the nation’s most advanced aircraft carrier, which added thousands of additional troops to what was already the largest military presence in the region in a generation.
Trump has justified the boat raids as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the US and claimed the US is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.
On Friday, Venezuela said it was open to an agreement with the United States to fight drug trafficking.
Maduro also said in a pretaped interview broadcast Thursday that the U.S. wants to change the government in Venezuela through a pressure campaign and gain access to its vast oil reserves.
Meanwhile, Iran’s state television reported on Saturday’s explosion in Caracas, showing images of the Venezuelan capital. Iran has been close to Venezuela for years, partly because of their shared enmity with the US
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Toropin and Lisa Mascaro reported from Washington.
