John’s post early this morning about events unfolding in the capital city of Caracas gave a hint, but I’m not sure the world was ready for Trump to pull another Panama invasion.
Ed had the breaking news bombshell follow-up that the United States had, indeed, snatched up dictator Nicholas Maduro and his wife.
And no loud music was required to flush the bad guy this time, like it took for Noriega to finally come out with his hands up.
Maduro was an illegitimate dictator who ran a narco-terrorist ring that murdered Americans and gave our enemies a foothold in the west.
We managed to free the people of Venezuela and bring this criminal to justice overnight without sacrificing one American troop.
That’s a win. pic.twitter.com/zoYpHWEM1g
— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 3, 2026
I’ll bet Maduro is wishing he had taken those Belarusian vacation tickets when they were offered a month or so ago.
President Trump called into Fox and Friends this morning – I swear to God the guy never sleeps – and spent a rambling, probably 40 minutes talking to the hosts on the couch all about the raid. Some amazing, super interesting facts came out.
First, that he had had several person-to-person calls with Maduro, offering him various exit ramps, which the dictator refused to take, and Trump’s patience simply wore out.
For another, Trump watched the entire thing in real time as it happened while in the SCIF at Mar-a-Lago. They also had this planned and ready to go on New Year’s Eve (!), but the weather wasn’t cooperating. The president said ‘Too many clouds.’ Last night’s weather, however, was ‘perfect,’ and Trump said ‘It’s a go.’
The president tentatively confirmed the initial reports of no deaths within our forces, but did mention that there had been injuries. Some of our guys ‘were hit,’ but he believed they were going to be alright, and that a helicopter had also been hit. (These statements were later confirmed in an interview with Sen Tom Cotton, who said Sec State Rubio had confirmed injuries and no deaths.)
President Trump revealed that Maduro and his wife were in a fortified home, ‘a fortress,’ and tried to get to the safe room with its steel doors to protect them. But he said he saw the steel doors come apart like they were nothing when our troops went in to get them. The couple is now in the tender care of the crew of the USS Iwo Jima and steaming towards justice in a federal court in New York.
Interview just came out.
WATCH: President Trump is live on @FoxNews following the overnight capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. pic.twitter.com/6IqpQlxALy
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) January 3, 2026
And they are indicted criminals, make no mistake about it.
Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) January 3, 2026
…Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States. They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts. On behalf of the entire U.S. DOJ, I would like to thank President Trump for having the courage to demand accountability on behalf of the American People, and a huge thank you to our brave military who conducted the incredible and highly successful mission to capture these two alleged international narco traffickers.
Jonathan Turley weighed in on the legitimacy of the raid and, most importantly, the precedent. This is a good read, especially listening to Democrats already spazzing.
…Maduro was indicted in a four-count superseding indictment with Diosdado Cabello Rondón, 56, head of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly; Hugo Armando Carvajal Barrios aka “El Pollo,” 59, former director of military intelligence; Clíver Antonio Alcalá Cordones, 58, former General in the Venezuelan armed forces; Luciano Marín Arango aka “Ivan Marquez,” 64, a member of the FARC’s Secretariat, which is the FARC’s highest leadership body; and Seuxis Paucis Hernández Solarte aka “Jesús Santrich,” 53, a member of the FARC’s Central High Command, which is the FARC’s second-highest leadership body.
This operation will be justified as executing the criminal warrant and responding to an international drug cartel, a very similar legal framework to the one used against Noriega. There is precedent supporting that earlier operation, which will now be used to defend the actions in Venezuela.
…Trump does not need congressional approval for this type of operation. Presidents, including Democratic presidents, have launched lethal attacks regularly against individuals. President Barack Obama killed an American citizen under this “kill list” policy. If Obama can vaporize an American citizen without even a criminal charge, Trump can capture a foreign citizen with a pending criminal indictment without prior congressional approval.
Ordinarily, the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and other international agreements require the United States to notify the embassy of a foreign national arrested and held in the United States. Notice seems a tad superfluous in this case.
What Trump left hanging was what happens now, which makes sense, keeping his cards close to the vest for once, which makes perfect sense. We can’t remove Maduro and simply ‘install’ Maria Corina Machado. Let the Venezuelans decide if Maduro’s illegitimately installed vice-president stays or they want the woman who should have been president had there been no hanky-panky.
And nothing but the highest praise for our troops.
BREAKING: President Trump praises the operation that captured Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro in an exclusive interview on ‘FOX & Friends Weekend.’
“The team did an incredible job. They rehearsed and practiced like nobody’s ever seen … It was an amazing thing, amazing job that… pic.twitter.com/J7nc7Khvpb
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 3, 2026
…”The team did an incredible job. They rehearsed and practiced like nobody’s ever seen … It was an amazing thing, amazing job that these people did. Nobody else could have done anything like it.”
Sen Cotton during his interview said that, no, he and other senators hadn’t been briefed, so that was probably why there had been no leaks about the operation…and then he kind of snickered.
Good.
— JWF (@JammieWF) January 3, 2026
The truth is going to sting butthurt Democrats, no?
And I don’t think it’s a mere coincidence that the Ayatollah Khamenei is a Xweeting mofo this morning… do you?
مهم این است که وقتی انسان احساس کرد دشمن طلبکارانه میخواهد تحمیل کند یک چیزی را برکشور و مسئولین، بر دولت بر ملت، با قدرت کامل بایستد درمقابل دشمن و سینه سپرکند. مادرمقابل دشمن کوتاه نمیآییم، مابااتکاواتکال به خدای متعال وبااطمینان به همراهی مردم دشمن رابه زانودرخواهیم آورد./۹
— KHAMENEI.IR | فارسی 🇮🇷 (@Khamenei_fa) January 3, 2026
…The important thing is that when a human senses that the enemy arrogantly wants to impose something on the country and its officials, on the government, on the nation, he must stand fully resolute against the enemy and serve as a shield. As long as we do not yield to the enemy, with reliance and trust in God Almighty and with confidence in the people’s companionship, we will bring the enemy to its knees./9
Somebody feels warm breath on his neck.
I’ll be here for the press briefing in a bit.
This has been so amazing – what magnificent troops we have.
God bless their big, brave hearts.
Beege ADDS: Oooh! Interesting update on Maduro’s VP. She was appointed by Maduro, NOT ‘elected’, and she is rumored not to even be in the country at the moment, having been rumored to have fled to Moscow when the first booms started going off.
