Watch the live broadcast: Trump holds a press conference after announcing that the United States has arrested Venezuelan leader Maduro

President Donald Trump held a press conference on Saturday after announcing that the United States had struck Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

Watch the Trump administration’s remarks live in the video player above.

Trump said that the United States plans to administer Venezuela until power is transferred, and claimed that the American presence already exists.

“We will run the country until such time as we can make a safe, sound, and wise transition,” Trump said.

The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump had consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear. The stunning and rapid US military action, which ousted a country’s leader from office, was an echo of the US invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and arrest of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 – exactly 36 years ago on Saturday.

With the capture of Maduro, Trump and his allies describe the bold military operation as a major success, as the US president once again demonstrated his willingness to use US forces in risky missions that come with potentially major consequences.

The operation toppled a South American strongman who the Trump administration criticized as an “illegitimate” dictator and a “narco-terrorist,” a scourge responsible for the constant flow of illicit drugs poisoning the United States and Europe.

“It was a remarkable operation, actually,” Trump told the New York Times shortly after Venezuelan airspace was cleared for US forces. He later added in an appearance on “Fox & Friends” that some American soldiers were injured in the raid, but no one was killed.

But the road ahead may be treacherous as the White House faces a series of difficult questions.

Who will fill the power vacuum now that Maduro is gone? How do you maintain stability in a country that has already suffered from years of hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages, and brain drain despite its enormous oil wealth?

What lessons will America’s adversaries learn from Trump’s decision to project American power into its sphere of influence, at a time when Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to annex the self-governing island of Taiwan, and as Russian President Vladimir Putin plots over neighboring Ukraine and shrinks NATO’s eastern flank?

Trump is taking a big risk

The removal of Maduro certainly represents another big moment for Trump’s foreign policy in his second term, as he has not been shy about flexing American military power even as he pledged to keep America out of war.

Trump has now twice used US forces to carry out risky operations against America’s adversaries. In June, he launched US strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites.

Saturday’s actions sparked new anxiety in capitals around the world that sought to adjust to a new normal in Trump 2.0, where the idea of ​​the United States trying to find a global consensus on issues of war and peace is now over. On Friday, Trump issued a new threat to Iran that if it “violently kills peaceful protesters” — in protests sparked by the collapse of Iran’s currency — the United States “will come to their rescue.”

More questions than answers

Retired Navy Admiral Mark Montgomery said the immediate path awaiting Trump in Venezuela may be more difficult to navigate than what he faced after the Iranian strikes.

“Unlike the (Iranian) strikes where Trump took action and then said ‘fight is over,’ he will not have that luxury here in Venezuela,” said Montgomery, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish think tank in Washington.

What’s next for Venezuela?

European allies have expressed concern after Trump ramped up a massive troop presence in the Caribbean in recent months and carried out dozens of deadly strikes on suspected drug traffickers — many of which the administration claimed were effectively an arm of Maduro’s government.

Maduro was hardly seen as a chorus boy in the eyes of the international community. His elections in 2018 and 2024 were riddled with irregularities and deemed illegitimate.

But many US allies greeted news of Maduro’s arrest with a degree of trepidation.

European Commission President Antonio Costa said he had “grave concerns” about the situation in Venezuela after the US operation.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, “The military operation that led to Maduro’s arrest violates the principle of non-use of force that underpins international law.”

Criticism by some Democrats of Trump’s military action to oust Maduro was immediate.

“This war is illegal, and it is embarrassing that we have gone from global policeman to global bully in less than one year.” “There is no reason for us to be at war with Venezuela,” Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona wrote on X.

The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned what it called the American “armed aggressive action” against Venezuela in a statement published on its channel on the “Telegram” application on Saturday. The ouster of Maduro, who is backed by the Russians, comes as Trump urges Putin to end his brutal, nearly four-year-old war on Ukraine.

The statement said: “Venezuela’s right to self-determination must be guaranteed without any destructive external interference, let alone military intervention.”

Likewise, in a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned the US operation, saying it violated international law and Venezuela’s sovereignty.

The arrest comes after months of pressure

The operation was the culmination of a campaign within the administration led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other like-minded foes of Maduro who have been urging Trump to take action against the Venezuelan leader for years.

In South Florida — the epicenter of Venezuelan diaspora opposition to Maduro that has influenced Rubio’s thinking — Saturday’s operation was hailed as a moment of change for the era of democracy.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a Republican from Florida, said he spoke to Rubio and thanked Trump for “changing the course of history in our hemisphere. Our country and the world are safer for it,” he wrote on X, comparing Maduro’s ouster to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Maduro has sought a way out of power while saving face.

The Associated Press reported in October that Venezuelan government officials had put forward a plan under which Maduro would eventually leave office.

The proposal calls for Maduro to step down within three years and hand power to his vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, who will complete Maduro’s six-year term that ends in January 2031. Rodriguez will not run for re-election under the plan.

But the White House rejected the proposal because the administration questioned the legitimacy of Maduro’s rule and accused him of overseeing a narco-terrorist state.

Maduro said earlier this week that Venezuela is open to negotiating an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking and to work with Washington to encourage more American investment in the Venezuelan oil industry. Trump said that Maduro had recently been offered opportunities to surrender, but he refused.

Shortly after Trump announced Maduro’s arrest, the White House posted a video on one of its social media accounts in October of Trump bluntly telling reporters that Maduro was feeling pressure from the US campaign and trying to reach a deal.

“He doesn’t want to mess around with the United States,” Trump said.

Elliott Abrams, who served as the US special representative for Iran and Venezuela in the first Trump administration, said the president must now decide how invested his administration is in forming the next government in Caracas. The Venezuelan opposition says the legitimate president is exiled politician Edmundo Gonzalez.

“I think the real question is whether Trump will declare victory and be satisfied with Delcy Rodriguez making some promises or engaging in negotiations,” Abrams said. “Or will he insist on Gonzalez?”

Trump said Saturday morning that he was not ready to commit to a specific leader but pledged that his administration would be “very engaged” in Venezuela.

“We can’t risk letting someone else run it — just take over where he (Maduro) left it,” Trump said.

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Canice Leung in Hong Kong, Sylvie Corbett in Paris and Elise Morton in London contributed reporting.