The White House shared photos of the ‘war room’ at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, where President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio followed the quick and apparently smooth operation to arrest Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife on Saturday morning.
The photos were published on X with the simple caption of “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the name of the tactically precise mission which saw elite troops penetrate Maduro’s fortified compound to remove the strongman and bring him to the United States.
Why It Matters
On Saturday morning, Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were “captured and flown out of the country” at Trump’s direction. In an image shared by Trump on Truth Social, Maduro was seen blindfolded, handcuffed, holding a water bottle and wearing a gray Nike sweatsuit while aboard the USS Iwo Jima.
The couple arrived in New York City on Saturday night, where Maduro is set to face federal charges related to drug trafficking and working with gangs designated as terrorist organizations, which the Venezuelan leader denies. In 2020, during Trump’s first mandate, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York for “narco-terrorism,” conspiracy to import cocaine and related offenses.
The world was left stunned by the American capture of Maduro, even as the toppling of the Venezuelan undemocratic, authoritarian leader was widely considered to be in the cards for 2026 after escalating tensions between the two countries in recent months.
The move has been praised by some and harshly criticized by others, who have questioned its legality and the impact it would have on Venezuela and the region’s stability.
The Trump administration has portrayed the apparently flawless operation as an undeniable victory, the proof that “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will NEVER be questioned again,” as the president said on Saturday. But questions remain over what will come next for Venezuela, which Trump said the U.S. will “run” until a “safe, proper and judicious transition” can be ensured.
What To Know
Shared in both black and white and colors, the photos shared by the White House on X and by the president on Truth Social show Trump sitting at a table surrounded by Rubio, Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, among others, inside Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
In one of the photos, adviser Stephen Miller can be seen looking into the camera.
Washington Post reporter Evan Hill shared one of the photos published by Trump on Truth Social on X, pointing out that a screen behind Hegseth and other officials shows that they were monitoring public reactions to the operation in Venezuela.
“Trump posting pictures on Truth Social of the temporary situation room he appears to have run the Maduro operation out of at Mar-a-Lago, including one with a very large ‘OSINT’ account up in the background,” he wrote on X.
“Multiple images seem to show a big screen where they’ve searched ‘Venezuela’ on X,” Hill added.
Trump told Fox News that he watched the capture of Maduro “in real time” from the so-called war room at Mar-a-Lago. “I watched it literally like I was watching a television show,” he told Fox & Friends Weekend.
The president said that he had given approval to the troops to capture Maduro as early as December 26, but trusted them with choosing the appropriate time. “We were going to do this four days ago, three days ago, two days ago, and then all of a sudden it opened up. And we said: go,” Trump said.
“It was an incredible thing to see,” he added, describing the operation. “And if you would’ve seen the speed, the violence… it’s just, it was an amazing thing, an amazing job that these people did.”
The images of the ‘war room’ at Mar-a-Lago were compared on social media to the famous photograph of then-President Barack Obama in the Situation Room of the White House, on May 1, 2011, when the U.S. launched an operation which killed 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden.
Operation Neptune Spear, as it was called, saw a team of U.S. Special Forces flying into Afghanistan and raiding the compound where bin Laden was hiding, shooting him dead and thus ending a nearly decade-long manhunt.
At the time, Obama was in a much busier room than the one in Mar-a-Lago this weekend.
Among those present were Brigadier General Marshall B. “Brad” Webb, Assistant Commanding General, Joint Special Operations Command; Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Standing, from left, are: Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; Chief of Staff Bill Daley; Tony Binken, National Security Advisor to the Vice President; Audrey Tomason Director for Counterterrorism; John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism; and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
“This is what a serious Situation Room looks like, when you’re taking out Bin Laden and not hosting the Taliban for dinner or invading Venezuela without Congressional approval,” an X user wrote on the platform, sharing the photo.
What People Are Saying
The White House wrote on X on Saturday: “Nicolas Maduro had his chance—until he didn’t. The Trump Admin will always defend American citizens against all threats, foreign and domestic.”
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Saturday: “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.”
He added during a press conference later on the same day: “At my direction, the U.S. Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela […] This was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a news conference on Saturday: “I think people need to understand that this is not a president who just talks and does letters and press conferences. If he says he’s serious about something, he means it. This is something that was a direct threat to the national interest of the United States, and the president addressed it.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement on Saturday: “President Trump sets the terms […] it means the drugs stop flowing, it means the oil that was taken from us is returned […] Ultimately, we’re going to control what happens next because of this brave decision.”
Venezuela’s Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López said in a statement cited by local media: “Far from a supposed fight against narcoterrorism, this deplorable action seeks to definitively force a regime change and subject us to the spurious designs of North American imperialism.”
What Happens Next
Trump said that the U.S. is going to “run” Venezuela for now, saying that U.S. oil companies would go into Venezuela and “spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure and start making money for the country.”
He also said that he did not see Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as a potential replacement for Maduro.
On the ground in Venezuela, the country’s Supreme Court Constitutional Chamber ordered Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of acting president on Saturday.