Overview
- Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Southern District of New York has indicted Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores on narco‑terrorism, cocaine trafficking and weapons offenses, with the administration casting the operation as executing criminal warrants.
- President Donald Trump said Maduro and his wife were flown out of Venezuela to face trial and declared the U.S. is "going to run" the country until a safe transition, invoking the Monroe Doctrine as justification.
- Democratic lawmakers called the action unauthorized and potentially illegal, demanded immediate briefings, and signaled war‑powers measures, with Sen. Tim Kaine pledging a vote next week to constrain further hostilities.
- Republican leaders praised the operation as law enforcement, with figures such as Sens. Tom Cotton and John Thune saying Maduro will face justice, and Sen. Mike Lee citing Article II authority to protect U.S. personnel after consulting Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
- Key details remain unsettled, including who controls Venezuela’s government and whether more military action is planned, with early reports noting some U.S. personnel were injured and no deaths confirmed.