By Blessing Nweke
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was given a final chance to step aside before the United States launched a secret military operation that culminated in his capture, marking one of the most dramatic foreign interventions of Trump’s presidency.
According to Trump, the warning came during a private phone call about a week earlier, when U.S. warships were already positioned off Venezuela’s coast and CIA operatives were inside the country tracking Maduro’s movements. “You got to surrender,” Trump recalled telling Maduro during remarks at his Mar-a-Lago residence. Maduro, Trump said, “came close” to stepping down but ultimately refused.
That decision triggered what officials described as the final phase of “Operation Absolute Resolve,” a months-long plan involving intelligence gathering, military preparation and intense pressure on the Venezuelan government. Trump said he gave the final order to proceed at 10:46 p.m. ET on Friday after weather conditions in Caracas cleared.
Senior administration officials said the CIA had deployed a small unit into Venezuela as early as August to gain detailed insight into Maduro’s habits and security. Elite U.S. troops trained using a replica of Maduro’s presidential compound, practicing breaching fortified rooms, according to Trump.
Throughout the fall, the administration escalated pressure through naval deployments and strikes on vessels it alleged were tied to drug trafficking, while the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier entered the Caribbean. Trump approved the operation before Christmas, using Mar-a-Lago as his planning base during the holidays.
The assault was tightly held, with limited advance notice even within the Pentagon. Vice President JD Vance met Trump hours before the operation but departed to avoid drawing attention.
Trump said the mission succeeded in capturing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, without any U.S. fatalities, though several American troops were injured. Maduro now faces prosecution in the United States.
Reflecting on the episode, Trump said Maduro’s refusal to surrender sealed his fate. “Now,” Trump said, “he wished he did.”
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