US will ´run´ Venezuela following capture of Maduro: Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States will "run" Venezuela after the U.S. military raided the country and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who are being transported to New York, reported Xinhua.

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago private club in Florida.

"We don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country," he said.

"We're there now. We're going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place," Trump added, offering no timeline for how long such a transition of power is expected to take.

He later said top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, would work with a team to help run Venezuela.

Trump refused to rule out the possibility of further U.S. military involvement. "We're not afraid of boots on the ground," he said.

Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the press conference that the U.S. troops will remain in the region following large-scale strikes on Venezuela and the capture of Maduro.

"As we stand here this morning, our forces remain in the region at a high state of readiness, prepared to project power, defend themselves and our interests in the region," Caine said.

Asked about a possible U.S. military presence in Venezuela during the transition period, Trump said: "No, we're going to have a presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil because we're sending our expertise. You may need something, not very much."

Trump said he plans to authorize U.S. oil giants to take over and invest in Venezuela's energy infrastructure and "start making money for the country," adding that the embargo on all Venezuelan oil "remains in full effect."

"Very importantly, the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect. The American armada remains poised in position, and the United States retains all military options until United States demands have been fully met and fully satisfied," said Trump.

"We're going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground. That wealth is going to the people of Venezuela and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela," Trump claimed. "It goes also to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us by that country."

By raiding Maduro and launching months of military pressure campaign, Trump said his administration has "superseded" the Monroe Doctrine laid out in the early 19th century.

A number of "No War on Venezuela" protests are planned for Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York and other cities across the United States later on Saturday.

"We need to take to the streets and say no to another endless war! The people of this country do not want another war! A U.S. war would cause death and destruction for the people of Venezuela," the Answer Coalition, one of the organizers, said in a news release.

The latest U.S. strikes on Venezuela and its capture of Maduro have drawn worldwide condemnation and concern.

Shortly after the strike started, the Venezuelan government denounced the "military aggression" by the United States, adding that the strike targeted civilian and military sites in at least four states of the country.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was deeply alarmed by the U.S. military actions, his spokesperson said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General continues to emphasize the importance of full respect -- by all -- of international law, including the UN Charter. He's deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected," said the statement issued by spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Meanwhile, Trump said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, are in U.S. custody and aboard the USS Iwo Jima, an amphibious warship en route to New York to face prosecution, reported Xinhua, quoting international media.

"They're on a ship," Trump told Fox News in a phone interview. "They'll be heading into New York."

Trump said the two were taken by helicopter following a U.S. military raid and transferred to the warship, which is operating in the Caribbean.

Trump said he watched the complex capture of Maduro in real-time from a room in his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, alongside military generals.

"I watched it literally like I was watching a television show," Trump said.

He added that he believed no U.S. personnel were killed during the operation, though some were injured, and a helicopter was hit.

"I think we had nobody killed," he told Fox News, adding that all aircraft returned safely.

Asked about Washington's next steps in Venezuela, Trump said his administration was "making that decision now" and would be "very much involved."

According to CNN, citing multiple sources familiar with the operation, U.S. forces launched a nighttime raid in Venezuela, catching Maduro and his wife while they were asleep. One source said the couple was "dragged from their bedroom" during the operation.

The Associated Press reported that the arrest took place at a residence inside a military compound.

The U.S. Army's Delta Force, an elite special forces responsible for killing former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, carried out the operation to capture Maduro, multiple U.S. media outlets reported.

A CNN report, citing sources, said that the Trump administration began preparing in mid-December for the secretive operation to strike Venezuela and capture Maduro.

Trump told Fox News that he had spoken directly with Maduro about a week earlier and had offered the Venezuelan leader an opportunity to step down peacefully.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said earlier that Maduro will "soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts" after he was captured and flown out of the oil-rich South American nation.

"Nicolas Maduro has been charged with Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States," Bondi wrote on social media platform X.

For months, the United States has maintained a significant military presence in the Caribbean, much of it off Venezuela's coast, purportedly to combat drug trafficking -- a claim Venezuela has denounced as an attempt to bring about regime change in Caracas.