Nicolás Maduro jailed in New York as Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela – live | Nicolás Maduro

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US attack on Venezuela raises fears of future Greenland takeover

Deborah Cole is a Berlin correspondent for the Guardian

The US bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, have renewed fears of an American takeover of Greenland, as members of Donald Trump’s Maga movement gleefully set their sights on the Danish territory after the attack in South America.

Just hours after the US military operation in Venezuela, the rightwing podcaster Katie Miller – the wife of Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s powerful deputy chief of staff for policy – posted on X a map of Greenland draped in the stars and stripes with the caption: “SOON.”

The US vice-president, JD Vance (centre), and his wife, Usha, tour the US military’s base at Pituffik in Greenland in March last year. Photograph: Jim Watson/AP

The threat to annex the mineral-rich territory, which is part of the Nato alliance, drew immediate outrage from Danes.

Copenhagen’s ambassador to the US, Jesper Møller Sørensen, reposted Miller’s provocation with a “friendly reminder” of the longstanding defence ties between the two countries.

You can read the full story here:

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Donald Trump has suggested in extremely vague terms that officials in Washington, including the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, would play a significant role in running Venezuela, for now.

With Maduro in US custody, “we will run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”, the US president said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Saturday.

“We can’t take a chance that someone else takes over Venezuela who doesn’t have the interests of Venezuelans in mind.”

Trump said the US would run Venezuela “with a group” and would be “designating various people” in charge while pointing to Rubio; the defence secretary, Pete Hegseth; and the joint chiefs of staff chair, Gen Dan “Razin” Caine, behind him.

He didn’t go into details but said he was open to the idea of sending US forces into Venezuela.

Trump said Rubio had talked with Delcy Rodriguez, who he said had indicated that “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”

The US president called Rodriguez “quite gracious” but said “she really doesn’t have a choice” in the matter.

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Updated at 07.10 EST

Who is running Venezuela now?

The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered on Saturday that the country’s vice-president Delcy Rodríguez assume the role of acting president of the country in the absence of Nicolás Maduro, who is in custody at a New York detention centre after he was captured during US strikes on Venezuela yesterday.

The court ruling said that Rodríguez would assume “the office of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defense of the nation.”

The judges stopped short of declaring Maduro permanently absent from office, a ruling that requires holding elections within 30 days.

Rodríguez – also minister for both finance and oil – chaired a national defence council session shortly after the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and reportedly demanded the couple’s “immediate release” while denouncing the US operation.

As confusion spread across the country, she called for unity and calm on Saturday evening, saying Venezuela would “never again be the colony of any empire” and that Maduro was the country’s only president.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court late on Saturday ordered the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, to become the country’s interim leader. Photograph: Leonardo Fernández Viloria/ReutersShare

Starlink, which is run by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has said it will provide free broadband to Venezuela. “Starlink is providing free broadband service to the people of Venezuela through February 3, ensuring continued connectivity,” Starlink said on X.

Under Maduro, Venezuela’s internet was tightly controlled, subject to censorship and blackouts.

Following the July 2024 presidential election – which Maduro claimed to have won despite widespread condemnation – independent news sites and communications platforms were blocked, according to Freedom House, a US-based non-profit.

Large-scale arbitrary detentions, including for online activities, were also carried out, while the state manipulated online discussion through influence operations, Freedom House said in its annual report on internet freedoms.

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Updated at 07.11 EST

Tom Phillips is the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent

The New York Times is reporting that Nicolás Maduro’s frequent displays of dancing played a role in Donald Trump’s decision to remove him from power with Saturday’s raid.

In the lead up to his capture, Maduro had made a succession of public appearances in which he strutted his stuff to the sound of electronic music containing a sample of one of his speeches in which he urged Trump not to launch a “crazy war”.

In an apparent attempt to project strength, the Venezuelan politician also popped up on television dancing salsa and singing songs including John Lennon’s Imagine and Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry Be Happy.

Trump was reportedly not amused. “Maduro’s regular public dancing and other displays of nonchalance helped persuade some on the Trump team that the Venezuelan president was mocking them … So the White House decided to follow through on its military threats,” the New York Times reports.

ShareNorth Korea condemns US capture of Maduro as ‘serious encroachment of sovereignty’

North Korea has reportedly become the latest country to condemn the US’s capture of Nicolás Maduro as a “serious encroachment of sovereignty” (see post at 08.49 for reactions from other world leaders).

Pyongyang’s foreign ministry “strongly denounces the US hegemony-seeking act committed in Venezuela”, a ministry spokesperson said in a statement carried by the official KCNA.

“The incident is another example that clearly confirms once again the rogue and brutal nature of the US,” they added.

Pyongyang, a supporter of Maduro’s socialist regime in Caracas, described the Venezuelan president’s removal as a “wanton violation of the UN charter and international laws with respect for sovereignty, non-interference and territorial integrity as their main purpose”.

The comments come after South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said that they detected several ballistic missile launches from North Korea’s capital region at about 7.50am local time (on Sunday).

Kim Jong Un (C) visiting a major munitions industry enterprise to review the production of weapons and combat equipment at an undisclosed location in North Korea on 28 December 2025. Photograph: KCNA/EPA

In recent weeks, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made numerous visits to weapons factories, as well as to a nuclear-powered submarine, and has overseen missile tests ahead of this year’s Ninth Party Congress of the Workers’ Party, which will set out major policy goals.

Pyongyang has for decades argued it needs its nuclear and missile programmes as a deterrent against alleged regime change efforts by Washington.

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Updated at 06.07 EST

Democratic members of the US Congress said senior officials in the Trump administration had misled them during recent briefings about plans for Venezuela by insisting they were not planning regime change in Caracas.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democrats’ leader in the Senate, said he had been told in three classified briefings that the administration was not pursuing regime change or planning to take military action in Venezuela.

Schumer is expected to push for a vote next week on a war powers resolution to restrict Trump’s ability to take further military action without explicit authorisation by Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Trump administration’s decision to capture Nicolás Maduro was “reckless” without a credible plan. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Congress is supposed to be notified by the presidency before any declaration of war, but at a press conference on Saturday, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the president, Donald Trump, defended not telling Congress about the operation beforehand.

“We called members of Congress immediately after. This was not the kind of mission that you can do congressional notification on,” Rubio told reporters. “It’s just not the kind of mission you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission.”

Trump added: “Congress has a tendency to leak. This would not be good.”

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Updated at 05.51 EST

US military actions in Venezuela were ‘unlawful and unwise’, Kamala Harris says

The former US vice president, Kamala Harris, has posted to X to say the American actions in Venezuela were “unlawful and unwise” moves that “do not make America safer, stronger, or more affordable”. She said:

That Maduro is a brutal, illegitimate dictator does not change the fact that this action was both unlawful and unwise. We’ve seen this movie before. Wars for regime change or oil that are sold as strength but turn into chaos, and American families pay the price.

The American people do not want this, and they are tired of being lied to. This is not about drugs or democracy. It is about oil and Donald Trump’s desire to play the regional strongman. If he cared about either, he wouldn’t pardon a convicted drug trafficker or sideline Venezuela’s legitimate opposition while pursuing deals with Maduro’s cronies.

The President is putting troops at risk, spending billions, destabilizing a region, and offering no legal authority, no exit plan, and no benefit at home.

ShareIs the US operation in Venezuela justified under international law?

Many countries viewed Nicolás Maduro as an illegitimate dictator but the legality of the operation to capture him and his wife has been seriously called into question – with some experts and observers saying it violated international law, ignored sovereign territorial rights and was reckless and potentially destabilising to the wider region.

My colleague Geraldine McKelvie spoke to leading experts in the field of international law to ask for their view on the rapidly unfolding events in Venezuela. Here is an extract from her story:

The experts the Guardian spoke to agreed that the US is likely to have violated the terms of the UN charter, which was signed in October 1945 and designed to prevent another conflict on the scale of the second world war. A central provision of this agreement – known as article 2(4) – rules that states must refrain from using military force against other countries and must respect their sovereignty.

Geoffrey Robertson KC, a founding head of Doughty Street Chambers and a former president of the UN war crimes court in Sierra Leone, said the attack on Venezuela was contrary to article 2(4) of the charter. “The reality is that America is in breach of the United Nations charter,” he added. “It has committed the crime of aggression, which the court at Nuremberg described as the supreme crime, it’s the worst crime of all.”

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Keir Starmer also told the BBC that he thinks we are living in a more “volatile” world than we have been for “many, many years” and said global affairs have much more of a “direct impact” on the UK than they have in a long time, citing the effects of military conflicts and the climate crisis.

Asked if Donald Trump is worsening global turmoil, Starmer dodges the question and speaks about the so-called special relationship between the UK and the US.

The British prime minister said:

The relationship between the US and the UK is one of the closest relationships in the world. It is vitally important for our defence, for our security, for our intelligence.

It is my responsibility to make sure that relationship works as the prime minister of this country, working with the president of the United States. Not only have I stepped up to that responsibility, I have made it my business and I do get on with President Trump.

That is a strange alliance in a way – as he often points out, we are from different political traditions…

I constantly remind myself that 24/7, our defence, our security, and our intelligence relationship with the US matters probably more than any other relationship we’ve got in the world and that would not be in our national interest to weaken that in any way.

Of course it doesn’t mean I agree with President Trump on everything he says and does, any more than he would agree with everything that I say or do.

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Updated at 06.43 EST

Keir Starmer refuses to condemn US attack on Venezuela

The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, has been urged by opposition parties to condemn the US military action in Venezuela.

Starmer has been repeatedly accused of kowtowing to the Trump administration, wanting to keep on side of Washington for economic and security reasons.

On the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme this morning, Starmer was asked if he wanted to condemn the US attack on the sovereign country.

“I want to get all the material facts together and we simply haven’t got the full picture at the moment – it is fast moving,” he said, confirming again that there was no UK involvement in the US military operation.

The Labour leader said he needs to speak to Trump and other UK allies before commenting further. He said “he has been a lifelong advocate for international law” but refuses to condemn the US attack as he “wants to ensure he has all the facts” at his “disposal”.

Keir Starmer being interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg for her BBC politics programme. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PAShare

Updated at 04.49 EST

Malaysia’s prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said he is following the developments in Venezuela with “concern” and said the US attack on the South American country was “unusual” in its “scope and nature”.

‘“Such actions constitute a clear violation of international law and amount to an unlawful use of force against a sovereign state,” he wrote in a post on X.

Ibrahim added:

President Maduro and his wife must be released without any undue delay. Whatever may be the reasons, the forcible removal of a sitting head of government through external action sets a dangerous precedent.

It erodes fundamental restraints on the use of power between states and weakens the legal framework that underpins international order. It is for the people of Venezuela to determine their own political future.

As history has shown, abrupt changes in leadership brought about through external force will bring more harm than good, what more in a country already grappling with prolonged economic hardship and deep social strain.

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Updated at 04.15 EST

What has the world reaction been to the US capture of Nicolás Maduro?

Here is a round up of how world leaders have reacted to the US’s bombardment of Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a military operation condemned by Democrats on Capitol Hill as the most dangerous example of US imperialism since the disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003. The reaction has been mixed:

China said the US should immediately release Maduro and his wife and resolve the situation in Venezuela through negotiation. The country’s foreign ministry said their deportation violated international law and norms.

Russia demanded for the US to “reconsider its position and release the legally elected president of the sovereign country and his wife”.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the US bombing and capture attack crossed “an unacceptable line” and represented “a grave affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”

The Philippines urged “concerned parties” to avoid actions that could further escalate tensions, with the country’s foreign affairs spokesperson quoted as having said Manila is closely monitoring the “evolving” situation in Venezuela.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro – whose country neighbours Venezuela – called the US action an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America which would lead to a humanitarian crisis.

Mexico, which Donald Trump has also threatened with military force over drug trafficking, said the US military operation “seriously jeopardises regional stability”.

Cuba, a strong ally of Venezuela, denounced “state terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people”.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said the intervention “violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and militarism”.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Maduro had “led his country to ruin”, but called the US action legally “complex”.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni – a Trump ally – argued the US military action in Venezuela was “legitimate” and “defensive”.

France said the US operation undermined international law. The country’s president, Emmanuel Macron, called for 2004 presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia to lead a political transition.

The UK prime minister Keir Starmer said: “We regarded Maduro as an illegitimate President and we shed no tears about the end of his regime. I reiterated my support for international law this morning.”

Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, an ally of Trump, posted on social media in the early hours: “Liberty advances! Long live Liberty!” while Ecuador’s president, Daniel Noboa, said “time was coming for all the narco-Chávista criminals”.

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Updated at 06.22 EST

Images from news agencies show how Saturday’s dramatic events unfolded in the US.

Some took to the streets to condemn the bombing of Venezuela, with protesters holding signs that said “No blood for oil”, and rallying in locations including Times Square and outside the White House.

Others, however, celebrated.

Crowds waved the Venezuelan flag as they gathered after dark outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where Maduro is now held, celebrating his removal. Some Venezuelans in the US have expressed hope they will be able to return home following his ousting.

A motorcade carrying Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro departs Manhattan on 3 January 03. Maduro will be arraigned in US federal court in New York on narcoterrorism charges. Photograph: Ryan Murphy/Getty ImagesVenezuelan immigrants gather near the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn (MDC Brooklyn) after the US struck Venezuela and captured its President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores overnight. Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/ReutersUS President Donald Trump addresses the media during a news conference at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Photograph: Nicole Combeau/EPAVenezuelan immigrants in New York celebrate after the US struck Venezuela and captured its Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Photograph: Eduardo Muñoz/ReutersHundreds of people denouncing the US bombing of Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro attend a rally in Times Square before marching through the streets of midtown Manhattan. Photograph: Gina M Randazzo/ZUMA Press Wire/ShutterstockShare

Updated at 02.56 EST

Unsealed indictment reveals charges against Nicolás Maduro and his wife

A newly unsealed US justice department indictment accuses Nicolás Maduro of running a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fuelled by an extensive drug-trafficking operation that flooded the US with thousands of tons of cocaine.

Here’s a look at the accusations against Maduro and the charges he faces.

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Flight restrictions around the Caribbean airspace will expire at 12am ET, allowing flights to resume, the US transportation secretary Sean Duffy said on social media.

“Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly. Please continue to work with your airline if your flight was affected by the restrictions,” he said.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled following the US attack on Venezuela and the capture of Maduro.

United Airlines and Delta are preparing to resume flights to the Caribbean by Sunday.

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China urges US to immediately release Maduro

China has called on the US to immediately release Maduro and his wife, saying the situation should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation.

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement the US should ensure the personal safety of Maduro and his wife, adding that their deportation violated international law and norms.

ShareMaduro filmed making ‘perp walk’

Nicolás Maduro is reported to have arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, according to US media.

He is expected to make an initial appearance in Manhattan federal court on Monday, according to officials.

Maduro loop

CBS News reported Maduro arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center, known as MDC, at about 8:52pm ET on Saturday.

The facility has held several high profile inmates, including rapper Sean “Diddy”, who was held there during his trial, until he was sentenced following his conviction on federal prostitution-related charges.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, who was found guilty of fraud charges, was also held at MDC, while Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is also held there.

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Updated at 02.09 EST

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the US attacks on Venezuela and its capture of Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro has now been brought to the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal facility in Brooklyn, according to US media – more on that in a moment.

Here is a summary of the most significant developments in the past 24 hours:

A plane believed to have been carrying Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, landed in New York on Saturday evening. Maduro was taken to the US Drug Enforcement Administration offices and is now believed to be at the Metropolitan Detention Center.

A video, posted on social media by the White House’s official rapid response account, appeared to show Maduro handcuffed and escorted by agents at the US Drug Enforcement Administration offices. In the video, Maduro, who is wearing a black hooded top and hat, walks down a hallway with a carpet that says “DEA NYD”. He can be heard saying “Goodnight” and “Happy new year”.


Donald Trump told a press conference on Saturday “We’re going to run the country [Venezuela] until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”. He did not give further details.

The US is going to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry after the military operation, Trump said. “We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it.”

Trump said his administration had not spoken to Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader María Corina Machado. He said he did not think she would be able to return to lead Venezuela, saying: “She does not have the support in Venezuela. She is a very nice woman but she does not have the support.”

Venezuela’s supreme court has ordered vice president Delcy Rodríguez to assume the role of acting president in Maduro’s absence.

Asked about Trump’s comment that the US will “run” Venezuela temporarily, US defense secretary Pete Hegseth told CBS News: “President Trump sets the terms … But it means the drugs stop flowing. It means the oil that was taken from us is returned, ultimately, and that criminals are not sent to the United States.”

The UN security council is due to hold an emergency meeting on Monday.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, is deeply alarmed by US military action in Venezuela, his spokesperson has said, and considered the US intervention “a dangerous precedent”.

The New York Times reported that at least 40 people, including civilians and soldiers, were killed in Saturday’s attack. The estimate came from a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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