The United States executed one of the most dramatic military operations in modern Western Hemisphere history early Saturday, capturing Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a precision extraction carried out by U.S. Special Operations aviation and federal law enforcement.
President Donald Trump announced the operation in the early morning hours, stating that U.S. forces had successfully removed Maduro from Venezuelan soil and flown him out of the country to face long-standing U.S. narcotics and weapons charges. The president said a full briefing would come later in the day.
The president then made an explosive announcement at the briefing.