How the US attack on Venezuela, abduction of Maduro unfolded

In a determination that stunned the world, the United States bombed Venezuela and toppled President Nicolas Maduro amid condemnation and plaudits.

In a quality league connected Saturday astatine his Mar-a-Lago edifice successful Florida, President Donald Trump praised the cognition to prehend Maduro arsenic 1 of the “most stunning, effectual and almighty displays of American subject mightiness and competence successful American history”.

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It was the riskiest and astir high-profile subject cognition sanctioned by Washington since the US Navy’s SEAL squad killed al-Qaeda person Osama bin Laden successful a harmless location successful Pakistan’s Abbottabad successful 2011.

News of the 63-year-old Maduro being abducted took implicit the planetary quality cycle.

After months of escalation and threats implicit Maduro’s alleged engagement successful shipping drugs to the US, the Trump medication had accrued unit connected Caracas with a subject build-up successful the Caribbean and a bid of deadly rocket attacks connected alleged drug-running boats that had killed much than 100 radical and whose legality has been heavy questioned by the United Nations and ineligible experts.

The US had besides antecedently offered a $50m reward for accusation starring to Maduro’s arrest.

But portion the subject was conducting operations successful the Caribbean, US quality had been gathering accusation astir Maduro, his eating habits, and peculiar forces covertly rehearsed a program to region him from powerfulness forcibly.

Here’s everything we cognize astir however Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were “captured”.

How was Maduro abducted?

The operation, named “Absolute Resolve”, was cautiously rehearsed for months, according to General Dan Caine, president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke astatine Trump’s quality conference.

Trump besides told Fox News that US forces had practised their extraction of Maduro connected a replica building.

“They really built a location which was identical to the 1 they went into with each the same, each that alloy each implicit the place,” Trump said.

At 11:46pm section clip connected Friday (03:46 GMT connected Saturday), Trump gave the greenish light.

On Friday night, Caine said, “the upwind broke conscionable enough, clearing a way that lone the astir skilled aviators successful the satellite could determination through”, with astir 150 craft progressive successful the operation, taking disconnected from 20 antithetic airbases crossed the Western Hemisphere.

As portion of the operation, US forces disabled Venezuela’s aerial defence systems, with Trump saying the “lights of Caracas were mostly turned disconnected owed to a definite expertise that we have”, without elaborating.

Several deafening explosions rang retired crossed the capital, with Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, describing it arsenic portion of a “massive associated subject and instrumentality enforcement raid” that lasted little than 30 minutes.

US helicopters past touched down astatine Maduro’s compound successful the superior astatine 2:01am (06:01 GMT) connected Saturday, with the president and his woman past taken into custody.

There has been nary readout connected whether determination was an speech of fire, successful a chaotic scramble, oregon if they were taken without a struggle.

At 4:29am (08:29 GMT), conscionable 2 and a fractional hours later, Maduro was enactment connected committee a US craft carrier, en way to New York. Trump aboriginal posted a photograph of the Venezuelan person connected his Truth Social societal media platform, blindfolded, wearing a grey tracksuit.

After departing the USS Iwo Jima, US forces escorted Maduro connected a flight, touching down successful New York’s Stewart Air National Guard Base astatine astir 4:30pm (21:30 GMT).

How galore radical were killed successful the US strikes connected Venezuela?

The US strikes deed Caracas arsenic good arsenic the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to the Venezuelan government.

To Linda Unamumo, a nationalist worker, the US attacks caused an detonation that was truthful beardown it destroyed the extortion of her house.

“Even up until a small portion ago, I was inactive crying … I was crying due to the fact that I was truthful frightened … I had to permission my location with my daughter, with my family, and spell to different house, a neighbour’s house. It was truly traumatic. I wouldn’t privation it connected anyone, really,” she told the AFP quality agency.

While authoritative casualty counts person yet to beryllium released, an authoritative told The New York Times paper connected information of anonymity that astatine slightest 40 radical had been killed successful the attacks.

According to Trump, a fewer US members were injured successful the operation, but helium believed nary 1 was killed.

What’s adjacent for Venezuela?

During his quality league connected Saturday, Trump announced that the US would “run” the country until a caller person was chosen.

“We’re going to marque definite that state is tally properly. We’re not doing this successful vain,” helium said. “This is simply a precise unsafe attack. This is an onslaught that could person gone very, precise badly.”

The president did not regularisation retired deploying US troops successful the state and said helium was “not acrophobic of boots connected the crushed if we person to”.

Trump also, somewhat surprisingly, ruled retired moving with absorption fig and Nobel Peace Prize victor Maria Corina Machado, who had dedicated her prize, which helium truthful wanted to triumph himself, to the US president.

“She doesn’t person the enactment wrong oregon the respect wrong the country,” helium said.

The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to service arsenic acting president pursuing the US’s abduction of Maduro.

The tribunal ruled that Rodriguez volition presume “the bureau of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, successful bid to warrant administrative continuity and the broad defence of the Nation”.

The tribunal besides said it would enactment to “determine the applicable ineligible model to warrant the continuity of the State, the medication of government, and the defence of sovereignty successful the look of the forced lack of the President of the Republic”.

Trump had said earlier connected Saturday that the US would not inhabit Venezuela, provided Rodriguez “does what we want”.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks to the property astatine the Foreign Office successful Caracas, Venezuela, connected August 11, 2025 [Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo]