Trump Says U.S. is “In Charge” of Venezuela, Maduro Expected in Court Monday
By Jennifer Jacobs, Joe Walsh, James LaPorta, Tucker Reals
What to know about the U.S. military attack on Venezuela
- Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and brought to the U.S. They will appear in federal court at noon on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.
- President Trump said in a Saturday press conference that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela temporarily during the transition, and “get the oil flowing.” He said Sunday the U.S. was “in charge” of Venezuela.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio signaled on Sunday the U.S. doesn’t plan to directly govern Venezuela, but will continue to enforce an “oil quarantine” as part of a plan to influence policy.
- Maduro and his wife landed in New York on Saturday hours after being captured during a U.S. military operation in Caracas. They are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and will face federal charges related to drug trafficking and working with gangs designated as terrorist organizations, which Maduro denies.
- The U.S. Army’s Delta Force, an elite special forces unit, carried out the operation to capture Maduro, officials told CBS News.
- The operation followed months of U.S. military buildup in the region, with the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier and numerous other warships positioned in the Caribbean, and a series of deadly strikes on more than 30 boats the administration says were carrying drugs.
The Cuban government said Sunday that 32 Cubans were killed during the U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“As a result of the criminal attack perpetrated by the United States government against the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, carried out in the early morning of January 3, 2026, 32 Cubans were killed in combative actions, who were serving missions on behalf of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, at the request of counterpart bodies of the South American country,” the Cuban government said.
“Our compatriots fulfilled their duty dignifiedly and heroically and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombing of the facilities,” the statement continued.
President Trump acknowledged their deaths aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, telling reporters, “A lot of Cubans were killed yesterday.”
By Jordan Freiman
Trump says he hasn’t spoken with Delcy Rodriguez, but that she’s cooperating with U.S.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night, President Trump said he has not spoken directly with Venezuela’s acting leader, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, but she was cooperating with the U.S.
Mr. Trump insisted the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, and said the U.S. had been prepared for further military action in Venezuela but it hadn’t been needed so far, adding that could change “if they don’t behave.”
The president said he’s spoken with several U.S. oil companies about commitments to rebuilding Venezuela’s infrastructure, saying they “wanna go in so bad.”
Mr. Trump also alluded to possible action against Colombian President Gustavo Petro, saying Colombia is “very sick too, run by a very sick man.” Mr. Trump said he felt Petro is “not going to be doing it for very long,” and when asked if he would carry out a military operation there as well, the president responded, “Sounds good to me.”
By Jordan Freiman
8:44 PM
Venezuela’s acting leader says Venezuela seeks “peace and peaceful coexistence”
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who is serving as acting leader following President Nicolás Maduro’s capture, said in a statement Sunday night that Venezuela seeks “peace and peaceful coexistence.”
“Our country aspires to live without external threats, in an environment of respect and international cooperation,” Rodriguez said. “We believe that global peace is built by guaranteeing the peace of each nation first.”
Rogriguez said she hopes to have a “balanced and respectful” relationship with the U.S. “based on sovereign equality and non-interference.”
“We extend the invitation to the U.S. government to work together on a cooperation agenda, oriented to shared development, within the framework of international legality and strengthen a lasting community coexistence,” she added.
“President Donald Trump: our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
By Jordan Freiman
8:21 PM
Retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster shares insight on U.S. strategies in Venezuela
Retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, who had served as national security adviser during President Trump’s first term, says the capture of Maduro is just the first step in U.S. intervention in Venezuela.
Asked by “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil on Sunday about why the U.S. left many of Maduro’s lieutenants in place despite capturing the former Venezuelan president and his wife and striking military targets, McMaster said, “The point was to bring [Maduro] to justice and to take what is a very complicated first step to replacing the Maduro regime with a legitimate regime.”
McMaster also said the action both increases pressure on the regime and is “mainly focused on drying up their cash flow.”
“That’s what you see in the interdiction of the oil tankers and the destruction of the boats, cutting off his access to the narcotics funds,” he said.
Noting the differences between Venezuela and past U.S. military involvement in toppling the regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, McMaster said, “Venezuelans ultimately have to do this themselves, but of course, what Maduro’s been very good at is crushing any opposition.”
7:42 PM
Congress to be briefed Monday on Venezuela
Trump administration officials will give some members of Congress a classified briefing on Venezuela at 5:30 p.m. Monday, according to multiple sources.
Those invited include chairs and ranking members from the Senate Foreign Relations, Senate Armed Services, House Foreign Affairs and House Armed Services committees, as well as the so-called Gang of Eight — the chair and ranking member of the House and Senate intelligence committees and the four leaders of the House and Senate.
The briefing is set to be delivered by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Dan Caine, according to an administration official.
By Patrick Maguire, Ed O’Keefe
Updated 7:29 PM
At least 4 Americans still detained in Venezuela
There are at least four detained Americans being held in Venezuela, according to a hostage advocate familiar with the situation. The U.S. government is aware that some Americans who had been detained in Venezuela prior to the holidays remain in custody there.
Asked by “Face the Nation” moderator Margaret Brennan about reports of previously detained Americans still being held in Venezuela, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said, “I’ve not gotten an update from the administration on those detained Americans. But certainly, my view is we should work to bring back every American who is wrongfully detained overseas.”
He added: “My view is that the administration should designate as wrongfully detained any Americans that the Venezuelan Government has seized wrongfully.”
By Margaret Brennan, Camilla Schick
7:25 PM
Protesters gather outside Brooklyn jail where Maduro is held
Protesters opposing the U.S. military strikes against Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn on Sunday, calling for his release.
Demonstrators barricaded a portion of the sidewalk across from where Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were being held on narcoterrorism charges since arriving in New York on Saturday night.
“As people of the United States, we have to oppose this action because what’s stopping Trump from doing this to other countries?” said Zoe Alexandra of ANSWER Coalition, an anti-war and anti-racism protest group formed after 9/11.
Others who spoke out against Sunday’s demonstration say they believe if Maduro had not been captured, change wouldn’t have come for the Venezuelan people for a number of years.
“I saw families, entire families, eating from the garbage,” Zulimar Mendoza, who left her family in Venezuela in 2018 and has been working a lot to send them money, told CBS New York. “It’s a sacrifice, yes, but it’s necessary in this case, because we are stuck. We don’t have solutions.”
By Kristie Keleshian
4:52 PM / January 4, 2026
U.S. airlines resume flights to the Caribbean
Several U.S. airlines announced Sunday they were resuming flights to the Caribbean after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted restrictions around the region’s airspace overnight.
United said it added 14 flights on Sunday to accommodate passengers whose travel was disrupted. American Airlines said it was adding nearly 5,000 seats to and from the Eastern Caribbean.
JetBlue said it plans to resume normal operations.
“We understand this is a busy travel weekend for many customers, and we’re doing everything possible to support those affected by the disruption. We will continue working to rebook customers on available flights and, where possible, by adding extra flights,” the airline said in a statement.
Delta said it was adding 2,600 seats to its Caribbean flight network on Monday and that it was working to ensure all affected customers are reaccommodated by Tuesday, Jan. 6.”
A major challenge for the airlines is capacity, as there is likely not enough gate space in some airports to accommodate the number of flights that would cover all the ones that were canceled on Saturday.
-Kris Van Cleave and Sarah Ploss contributed to this report.
By Kiki Intarasuwan
4:09 PM / January 4, 2026
Venezuela’s military recognizes Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as acting leader after Maduro’s capture
Venezuela’s military said it recognizes Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as the country’s acting leader after Nicolas Maduro was extracted from Caracas by U.S. forces on Saturday.
Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez issued a statement endorsing a Supreme Court ruling that appointed Rodriguez as acting president for 90 days.
Rodriguez, who is next in the presidential line of succession, served as Maduro’s vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy as well as its feared intelligence service. On Saturday, Venezuela’s high court ordered her to assume the role of interim president.
1:44 PM / January 4, 2026
Rep. Jim Himes says Maduro capture is “clearly illegal under international law”
Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the operation to capture Maduro is “clearly illegal under international law,” while pointing to broader implications.
“Think of what Russia and China just learned,” Himes said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” “Russia and China just learned that all you need to do if you want to go into Estonia is to say that the leader of Estonia is a bad person. You don’t even need to make a particularly good case.”
Himes said “there’s no national security expert saying that Venezuela was a mortal threat to the United States three weeks ago.”
“So what China and Russia just learned is that the beacon of liberty and rule of law in the world has now green lighted snatch and grab operations in Estonia, in Taiwan, wherever Xi and Putin decide they want to go next.”
The Connecticut Democrat added that it’s also “clearly not legal under the Constitution, because though presidents of both parties have argued against this, the Constitution is really pretty clear that the representatives of the people get to be consulted and ultimately approve military activity.”
“That has not happened here at all,” Himes said.
Himes said he was “delighted to hear that Tom Cotton, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been in regular contact with the administration,” saying he’s had “zero outreach” and isn’t aware of any other Democrats who have received outreach either.
“So apparently, we’re now in a world where the legal obligation to keep the Congress informed only applies to your party, which is really something,” he added.
Himes pointed to the reaction from Republican lawmakers and other officials so far, saying “we’re in the euphoria period of acknowledging across the board that Maduro was a bad guy and that our military is absolutely incredible.”
“This is exactly the euphoria we felt in 2002 when our military took down the Taliban in Afghanistan,” Himes said. “In 2003 when our military took out Saddam Hussein, and in 2011 when we helped remove Muammar Qaddafi from power in Libya.”
Himes said “what we learned the day after the euphoria phase is it’s an awful lot easier to break a country than it is to actually do what the president promised to do, which is to run it.”
By Kaia Hubbard
1:17 PM / January 4, 2026
Maduro to appear in New York federal court on Monday
Maduro and his wife will appear in federal court at noon on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.
Maduro and his wife landed in New York on Saturday night and are being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. They face federal charges related to drug trafficking and working with gangs designated as terrorist organizations, which Maduro has denied.
By Alice Gainer, Pat Milton
Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/venezuela-us-military-strikes-maduro-trump/