United States military action in Venezuela leads to capture of Nicolás Maduro

In early January 2026, the United States carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela. Following the operation, President Donald Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores had been captured and removed from the country.

On January 5, 2026, Maduro and Flores appeared in a New York court to plead not guilty to charges involving drugs and weapons. During this period, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado met with President Trump at the White House, where she presented him with her Nobel prize medal.