President Donald Trump gave a press conference following the raid to capture narco-terrorist Nicolas Maduro where he announced that the United States would be running the country until the transfer of power was conducted.
🚨@POTUS: "We are going to run the country [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition." pic.twitter.com/Jg5EVeweji
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 3, 2026
“We’re gonna run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition,” Trump said. “We don’t want to be involved with having someone else get in and we have the same situation we’ve had for the last long period of years. We want peace, liberty, and justice for the great people of Venezuela, and that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country.”
“We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind. We’re not going to let that happen,” Trump continued. “We’re gonna run it, essentially.”
Trump began the press conference by lauding the operation’s success.
“At my direction, the United States armed forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. Overwhelming American military power — air, land, and sea — was used to launch a spectacular assault, and it was an assault like people had not seen since World War 2. It was a force against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice. This was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.”
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.@POTUS: "At my direction, the United States Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela... This was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history." pic.twitter.com/iq1KhqF7iU
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
Trump then compared the “perfect” operation to the successes of the strike against Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, the raid on ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the air campaign conducted against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Trump further touted the expertise and effectiveness of American armed forces.
“No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday, or frankly in a short period of time,” Trump said. “All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military working with law enforcement captured Maduro in the dead of night.”
.@POTUS: "No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday... all Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with U.S. law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night." pic.twitter.com/a0NwP4yDQn
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
Trump told few details of what actually took place during the raid to capture Maduro, but did reveal that the United States cut off power to the Venezuelan capital, and that the United States suffered no losses in personnel or equipment.
“It was dark. The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have. It was dark and it was deadly,” Trump said. “I want to thank the men and women of our military who achieved such an extraordinary success overnight, with breathtaking speed, power, precision and competence.”
Trump said that the success of the raid was further evidence that American military might had returned.
“You rarely see anything like it,” Trump said. “You’ve seen some raids in this country that didn’t go so well. They were an embarrassment. If you look back to Afghanistan or if you look back to the Jimmy Carter days.” Trump continued, “we’re a respected country again…maybe like never before.”
.@POTUS: "I want to thank the men and women of our military... These highly trained warriors, operating in collaboration with U.S. law enforcement, caught them in a very ready position... They were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated." pic.twitter.com/u8Lcn7UGI9
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
Trump announced that an emerging partnership between the two states would elevate the prosperity of the Venezuelan people through U.S. investments into the Venezuelan energy sector.
“As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust...for a long period of time,” Trump said. “We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies…go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the infrastructure, and start making money for the country.”
.@POTUS: As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust for a long period of time... We're going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, and start making money for the country. pic.twitter.com/XWgtcZaGLF
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
“This partnership of Venezuela with the United States of America…will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe,” Trump continued.
For critics who claim that the raid was a departure from the America First agenda, Trump had a response.
“We want to surround ourself with good neighbors,” Trump said. “We want to surround ourself with stability. We want to surround ourself with energy...we need that for ourselves, we need that for the world — and we want to make sure we can protect it.”
.@POTUS: "We want to surround ourself with good neighbors. We want to surround ourself with stability. We want to surround ourself with energy... we need that for ourselves, we need that for the world—and we want to make sure we can protect it." pic.twitter.com/6qlVe6TqJo
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
Trump issued a warning to any bad actors who would move against U.S. interests.
“This extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.”
.@POTUS: "Other Presidents may have lacked the courage — or whatever — to defend America, but I will never allow terrorists or criminals to operate with impunity against the United States." pic.twitter.com/CcNi7zAXw4
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
Sec. Marco Rubio echoed that sentiment, saying “You have a guy, like many people around the world, who likes to play games. The 47th President of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you that he's going to do something, when he tells you he's going to address a problem, he means it.”
.@SecRubio: "The 47th President of the United States is not a game player. When he tells you that he's going to do something, when he tells you he's going to address a problem, he means it... This is something that was a direct threat to the national interest." pic.twitter.com/FLhuXnZwNX
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
Maduro and his wife have been indicted by the Southern District of New York and will soon be delivered to the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center to await trial.
Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.
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