As part of a dramatic overnight operation that knocked out electricity in parts of Caracas, US Special Forces captured Maduro in or near one of his safe houses, Trump said. With Maduro in US custody, “We will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. “We can’t take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the interests of Venezuelans in mind.”
Video showed a plane arriving at Stewart International Airport about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of New York City, with several US personnel in FBI and other apparel boarding the aircraft after it landed. TV news networks, including CNN, Fox News and MS Now, identified a person who disembarked from the plane as Maduro.
It is unclear how Trump plans to oversee Venezuela. US forces have no control over the country itself, and Maduro’s government appears not only to still be in charge but to have no appetite for cooperating with Washington.
