The US military and pressure campaign to oust Nicolás Maduro

In November, the administration designated the Cartel de los Soles, which it says is led by Maduro and top officials, a foreign terrorist organization.^[11][12] After the Federal Aviation Administration warned of a "potentially hazardous situation" over Venezuela and urged caution, international airlines canceled flights,^[13][14] and Venezuela revoked the operating rights of six of them.^[15] Trump then declared that the airspace above and around Venezuela should be considered "closed in its entirety."^[16] Maduro described a call with Trump, in which he asked for amnesty in exchange for leaving the country, as "respectful and cordial."^[17]

In December, the campaign turned to Venezuela's oil. US forces seized a sanctioned tanker, the Skipper, off the Venezuelan coast,^[18] and the United States sanctioned three of Maduro's nephews and shipping companies it said move Venezuelan oil.^[19] Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela.^[3] US forces stopped more vessels in the days that followed,^[20][21] and the White House ordered the military to focus almost exclusively on enforcing a "quarantine" of Venezuelan oil.^[22] At the end of the month, the CIA carried out a drone strike on a docking area believed to have been used by drug cartels, according to people familiar with the operation. Trump described the strike as taking out a "big facility."^[23][24]

Early on January 3, 2026, after explosions and low-flying aircraft were heard over Caracas,^[25] US forces captured Maduro and his wife at their residence in an operation that had taken months to prepare, and flew them to New York.^[4] Trump said the United States would "run" Venezuela and sell its oil, and power in Caracas shifted to Delcy Rodríguez.^[4] Cuba said 32 of its military and police personnel were killed in the operation,^[26] and Venezuelan officials said at least 24 of their security officers died.^[27] The capture set off celebrations among Venezuelans in South Florida^[28] and divided the region.^[29] Trump later said he had canceled a "second wave" of attacks after Venezuela's authorities began releasing political prisoners and cooperating with the United States.^[30]

In Congress, the Senate had rejected a measure to limit Trump's military actions against Venezuela in November 2025.^[31] After the raid, a small bloc of Senate Republicans joined Democrats to advance a war powers resolution.^[32] It was defeated a week later after two Republicans reversed course under pressure from Trump, with Vice President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote.^[33] The House rejected a similar resolution on a tied vote.^[34]

Trump visited Fort Bragg in February to praise the special forces involved in the raid,^[35] and an Army pilot wounded in it received the Medal of Honor during his State of the Union address.^[36] In April, a special forces soldier, Gannon Ken Van Dyke, was charged with using classified information about the mission to win $400,000 on the prediction market Polymarket. He pleaded not guilty.^[37][38]