Since Trump’s Venezuela operation went down just over 24 hours ago, there’s been an avalanche of reporting detailing the high risk gambit of American forces entering the capital of Caracas to kidnap Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Admin officials appear eager to spike the proverbial football and divulge the details, akin to what happened after the complex SEAL raid which took out Osama bin Laden, or the later special forces killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria.
First, it has been divulged that President Trump a mere week earlier gave Maduro once last chance to relinquish power willingly in a phone call. “You got to surrender,” Trump told the press Saturday in reference to Maduro. Trump referenced that he actually “came close” to stepping down – whereafter he possibly would have headed to safer climes in Dubai, Qatar, or even Moscow (where he could join Assad).
via FOX
But at the very moment the Venezuelan leader was on the phone with Trump, a CIA team was already in country monitoring his every move. According to a variety of fresh reporting in NBC and others, the CIA closely watched where he stayed, what he ate, and how he moved.
Likely the CIA would have been developing local assets over a period of years. An ‘asset’ can be anyone from local citizens or military officers – or even high ranking Colonels in Generals in the national army. One thing is clear at this point – the Pentagon had ‘insider help’ within the socialist regime.
Details of what was dubbed “Operation Absolute Resolve” have at this point been revealed by more than a dozen officials across the White House, administration, and Congress. There have also been very clear public remarks, and the obvious fact of the months-long Pentagon build-up in the southern Caribbean.
For example, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan “Raizin” Caine said Saturday that US intelligence even knew the names of Maduro’s pets.
Elite forces had trained for months, which even involved rehearsals at a mock-up of Maduro’s compound built from intelligence reports, and troops practiced utilizing “massive blowtorches” in the event they would have to breach steel barriers protecting Maduro’s safe room.
One theme of the new reporting on the secretive operations was just how few in the US administration knew about it. The operation was strictly held to only the highest officials. Even Pentagon officials were unaware of the exact timing until Friday night, two US officials told NBC News.
The mission might have been ordered days before if not for unclear skies, but it finally proceeded Friday night when the weather cleared and it was a full moon. “Good luck and Godspeed,” Trump told military commanders upon giving the final order.
The New York Times reports that this is what finally pushed Trump to send Delta Force to storm Caracas and abduct Maduro: https://t.co/e4bmnTgaDy pic.twitter.com/cf1cd03ZCr
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) January 4, 2026
Those most directly involved in the planning will also reportedly play roles in governing Venezuela until there is some kind of agreed-upon political transition – including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
Below are highlights of different aspects of how the unprecedented successful raid went down in the heart of Latin America, compiled from various sources [emphasis ZH]:
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Brief mission with ‘significant resistance’
The mission took about two hours and 20 minutes and continued into early Saturday, when Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores “gave up,” General Caine said.
U.S. forces encountered significant resistance, Mr. Trump said. At least 40 people were killed, including military personnel and civilians, according to a senior Venezuelan official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe preliminary reports. —NY Times
Helicopters flying low after power cut
At least 150 aircraft flew toward Caracas from 20 different bases on land and sea. The fleet included bombers, fighters and craft that specialized in intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance, Caine said. The crews ranged in age from 20 to 49.
Darkness cloaked the Venezuelan capital. Trump suggested that the U.S. had cut the electricity in Caracas to gain an edge in the battle. Flying at 100 feet above the water, helicopters carried the special forces and law enforcement officials who plucked Maduro from his residence, Caine said. Other aircraft fired weapons to disable Venezuela’s air defense systems and clear a path for the helicopters, he added.
Flames were seen billowing from explosions at Fort Tiuna, a large military complex in Caracas. —NBC
The Delta Force breach of Maduro’s presidential complex
By 1 a.m. ET Saturday, U.S. soldiers had reached the compound in Caracas where Maduro was staying. “A heavily fortified military fortress,” Trump called it.
When Delta Force breached Maduro’s residence, he and his wife were taken “completely by surprise,” Caine said. Maduro tried to escape into what Trump described as a steel safe room but didn’t make it in time. The forces took Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, into custody.
A firefight broke out after Maduro was captured, Caine said, and a U.S. helicopter was hit. No Americans were killed, though there were several injuries to U.S. troops, all of whom are stable, according to a U.S. official and a White House official.
By 3:30 a.m. ET, U.S. forces were safely out of the country, Caine said. At that time, the air in Caracas smelled of gunpowder and smoke. The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela cautioned American citizens there to shelter in place. —NBC
High placed CIA assets in govt. coordinated the raid
The assets included a CIA source operating within the Venezuelan government who assisted the United States with tracking Maduro’s location and movements ahead of his capture, one source briefed on the operation told CNN.
The detailed timeline and the revelation that a CIA team has been operating inside Venezuela for so long sheds new light on the administration’s pressure campaign on Maduro for the past several months, even as senior officials publicly stated their goal was not regime change. —CNN
The extraction of a sitting head of state
The helicopters with the extraction team reached Maduro’s compound at 2 a.m. local time in Caracas, the general said. Upon arrival, the helicopters came under fire and one was hit but remained flyable. The US returned fire in defense, Caine added.
“As the operation unfolded at the compound, our air and ground intelligence teams provided real-time updates to the ground force, ensuring those forces could safely navigate the complex environment without unnecessary risk,” he said.
Caine said Maduro and his wife “gave up” to the US military personnel before being flown out of the country. Maduro and Flores were placed aboard the USS Iwo Jima… —CNN
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More information on the highly secretive op is likely to come out in the next days and weeks, as the history books are already being written.
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