U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks down during a press conference following a U.S. strike on Venezuela where President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured, from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., January 3, 2026.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
New York officials, while offering no sympathy for deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, blasted the Trump administration Saturday for its unilateral action to bomb the South American nation and apprehend both Maduro and his wife on a criminal indictment.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he had been briefed on the operation as well as the U.S. Justice Department’s plan to prosecute and imprison Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Manhattan within the Southern District of New York.
The new mayor called the operation a “blatant pursuit of regime change” that was “an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.” Mamdani said his greater concern at the moment is keeping the city and its large Venezuelan population safe. It is believed that some 32,000 Venezuelans live in the New York City metropolitan area.
“This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad; it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home,” Mamdani said. “My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance.”
The city’s Congressional delegation also expressed outrage that Trump acted without consulting Congress and seeking formal authorization to launch the attack on Venezuela.
Senate Minority Leader and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer slammed Maduro as “an illegitimate dictator,” but Trump’s “military action without congressional authorization… is reckless.”
“The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans,” said Schumer, who demanded that the White House “brief Congress immediately on its objectives, and its plan to prevent a humanitarian and geopolitical disaster that plunges us into another endless war.”
“To distract from skyrocketing costs Americans face, and the historic coverup of the Epstein files, Donald Trump is attempting to throw Americans into more international chaos and uncertainty,” Schumer added.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) charged that “the Trump administration has not sought congressional authorization for the use of military force and has failed to properly notify Congress in advance of the operation in Venezuela.”
“The promotion of security and stability in a region requires more than just military force as we painfully discovered in Iraq and Afghanistan. Far too many questions remain unanswered, including with respect to whether further military actions are planned,” Jeffries said. “Pursuant to the Constitution, the framers gave Congress the sole power to declare war as the branch of government closest to the American people. The House and Senate must be briefed immediately and compelling evidence to explain and justify this unauthorized use of military force should be presented forthwith.”
U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens), ranking member of the House Foreign Services Committee, charged that Trump had used “the U.S. military to attempt regime change in a sovereign foreign nation, without approval from Congress, without a defined objective or plan for the day after, and without support from our allies,” adding that it “risks entangling the United States in an open-ended conflict in Venezuela that could destabilize the entire region.”
“This action is also a violation of international law and further undermines America’s global standing,” said Meeks, who also condemned Maduro as an “illegitimate leader.”
“Congress must reassert its constitutional role before this escalation leads to greater instability, chaos, and unnecessary risk to American lives,” the Congress member added.
In stark contrast to those statements, U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Brooklyn/Staten Island), the only Republican in the city’s Congressional delegation, celebrated Trump’s “bold and decisive action” as “a major victory for American security and justice.”
“Maduro, the illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, empowered violent gangs and drug cartels, causing the deaths of countless Americans, and aligned with hostile regimes in Russia, China, Iran and Cuba,” Malliotakis said.
Trump had ordered air strikes on military installations inside Venezuela early on Jan. 3 amid growing tensions between both nations; the Trump administration had accused Maduro of running Venezuela as a “narco-state,” serving as a pipeline for illegal drugs and gang activity.
During an address to the nation on Saturday morning, Trump said that the U.S. has effectively taken over Venezuela — and would “run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” There is no immediate timetable for when that transition will take effect.
When asked if the armed forces were going in to occupy the country, Trump said, “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to. We had boots on the ground last night.”