Trump: Armada, Maduro Captured, Mexico On Notice
Short version: Trump says U.S. forces pulled off a surgical operation in Venezuela. Nicolás Maduro was taken. He and his wife were put on a ship. They’ll face charges in New York, Trump said.
This happened fast, Trump told Fox and Friends. He said Maduro was holed up in a house that was more like a fortress. The team hit hard. They moved quick. No U.S. personnel killed, Trump said. Some were injured and came back.
Trump described the scene bluntly: “It had steel doors. It had what they call the safety space, where it’s, you know, solid steel all around. He didn’t get that space closed. He was trying to get into it, but he got bum rushed so fast that he didn’t get into there. We were prepared. We had, you know, massive blow torches and everything else that you need to get through that steel, but we didn’t need it. He didn’t make it to that area of the house.”
He also stressed that everything came back: “You know, that we had nobody killed. Was amazing. I think we had nobody killed, I have to say, because a couple of guys were hit, but they came back, and they’re supposed to be in pretty good shape. But that we had nobody killed, that we lost no aircraft, you know, everything came back, we got it all back. One of them was hit pretty hard, but a helicopter, but we got it back. But it just was the right time to do it.”
Trump said the captured pair were taken on board the USS Iwo Jima and will be brought into the U.S. for prosecution. He joked about the helicopter ride: “They went by helicopter in a nice flight, I’m sure they loved it.”
He warned the nation that the military was ready to expand the mission if needed. “We were prepared to do a second wave. We were all set and very— this was so lethal, this was so powerful that we didn’t have to, but we’re prepared. We’re out there with an armada like nobody’s ever seen before, and we’re prepared, and were prepared. And frankly, probably thought we were going to have to do it, but we were prepared for a second wave going in.”
Trump tied the operation to a broader law-and-order message. He made it clear the cartels and drug flows matter here at home. On Mexico, he said bluntly: “It wasn’t meant to be, we’re very friendly with her, she’s a good woman, but the cartels are running Mexico. She’s not running Mexico. The cartels are running Mexico. And we can be politically correct and be nice and say, ‘Oh yes, she is.’ No, No, she’s very, you know, she’s very frightened of the cartels. They’re running Mexico. And I’ve asked her numerous times, would you like us to take out the cartels? ‘No, no no, Mr. President, no no, no, please.’ So, we have to do something, because we lost— the real number is 300,000 people, in my opinion.”
The tone was unapologetic. Short sentences. Clear aims. Trump framed this as decisive action against a brutal regime and as a message about border security and cartel violence. He promised the American people that the mission was precise and that the military was prepared for more if needed.
Below are the original Rumble embed calls from the briefing videos as they appeared in the report.
What to watch for next: the Justice Department and Southern District of New York filings will show charges. Expect an update from the White House on detainee handling and the legal path forward. Trump is set to address the nation; that briefing was delayed but expected to follow.
Quick take: this is a major foreign-action claim from the President. If true, it’s a high-stakes, high-impact move. Supporters will call it decisive. Critics will demand paperwork, rules-of-engagement details, and legal evidence. Either way, it’s raw, real, and loud politics.