State Department warns US citizens to leave Venezuela

The warning came amid reports of armed militias.

ByIvan Pereira, Mary Kekatos, Jon Haworth, Kevin Shalvey, David Brennan, Meredith Deliso, and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: January 11, 2026, 10:28 PM EST

Deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife appeared in a federal court in New York City on Monday, following their capture by U.S. forces over the weekend in a military operation in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

Following the operation, President Donald Trump said that the U.S. would "run" Venezuela for an unspecified "period of time."

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has been sworn in as interim leader to lead the country after what the Venezuelan Supreme Court described as Maduro's "kidnapping."

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Here's how the news is developing.
Jan 03, 2026, 5:59 AM EST

Read more: Details of the operation emerge

President Donald Trump said the U.S. "successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela" and said Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were "captured and flown out of the Country."

The announcement on Trump’s social media platform came shortly before 4:30 a.m. Saturday a few hours after several explosions were heard in Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas, witnesses said, and photos and videos showed plumes of smoke and a large fireball in the night sky.

In this photo posted to social media by President Donald Trump, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is shown in U.S. custody, on Jan. 3, 2026.
@realDonaldTrump

Trump said the operation was carried out in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement and said he would hold a news conference at 11 a.m. from Mar-a-Lago.

In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, President Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture Maduro.

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