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WASHINGTON − President Donald Trump confirmed early on Jan. 3 that the U.S. had carried out an overnight strike on Venezuela and said that the nation’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, had been taken into custody and removed from the country.

Trump made the announcement on social media several hours after explosions shook the capital city of Caracas.

“The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The U.S. president said he would be providing additional details at a news conference at 11 am EDT at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Trump spent the holidays at his private resort in Palm Beach and was scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday.

Venezuela’s government had alleged that the U.S. was behind the military operation, which came days after Trump acknowledged that the U.S. had conducted a covert strike against a dock facility in the country. Trump’s statement was the first public confirmation from the U.S. that it had carried out the strike.

The military operation followed a months-long military buildup in the Caribbean by the Trump administration, as well as a series of attacks on alleged drug boats and the seizure of Venezuelan oil tankers.