Maduro, wife being taken to New York: Trump

US President Donald Trump has claimed that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are being taken to New York after being captured by US forces.

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Trump said Maduro and Flores have been indicted in New York and are being transported to the state by helicopter and ship.

He alleged that the Venezuelan leader was responsible for the deaths of many people, including American citizens.

Trump said the operation to capture Maduro had been planned earlier but was delayed due to weather conditions. “The weather has to be perfect,” he said, adding that the mission was launched once conditions improved.

Describing the raid, Trump said Maduro was captured from a location “more like a fortress than a house,” with heavy steel fortifications. He claimed no US soldiers were killed in the operation, though a few were injured and are now in stable condition.

The US president also said he had spoken with Maduro about a week before the operation, urging him to surrender. When that did not happen, Trump said the US carried out what he described as a “surgical and powerful” action.

Trump said Maduro’s capture sent a message that the US would no longer allow itself to be “pushed around,” particularly over drug trafficking.

Asked about the political future of Venezuela, Trump said Washington would consider its position regarding opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. He also questioned the legitimacy of Maduro’s election.

US oil firms to head into Venezuela

President Donald Trump would allow American oil companies to head into Venezuela to tap its massive crude reserves after a US military operation that seized the country's leader Nicolas Maduro.

"We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country," Trump told a press conference.

Trump also said "the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect."

As part of a weeks-long military pressure campaign against Venezuela in the run-up to the raid, US forces seized at least two oil tankers that Washington said were subject to US sanctions.

Trump also warned other political and military figures in Venezuela, saying that "what happened to Maduro can happen to them."

Venezuela has been under US oil sanctions since 2019. It produces about a million barrels of crude per day. It sells most on the black market at steep discounts.

Trump claims Caracas is using oil money to finance "drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping."