Trump reveals details on operation, says US forces 'bum rushed' Maduro
In a phone interview with Fox News, President Donald Trump shared details of the U.S. attack on Venezuela overnight that led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.
Trump said he believes there were no U.S. deaths, but that one U.S. helicopter was hit.
"I think we had nobody killed, I have to say, because a couple of guys were hit, but they came back," Trump said. "And they're supposed to be in pretty good shape, but that we had nobody killed. ... We got it all back. One of them was hit pretty hard, but a helicopter, but we got it back."
The president shared new details of the capturing of Maduro, saying he was "bum rushed" and U.S. forces had "massive blow torches" to get through the steel doors at Maduro's complex.
"But he was ... in a house that was more like a fortress than a house. It had steel doors. It had what they call a safety space, where it's solid steel all around," Trump said.
Trump continued, "He didn't get that space closed. He was trying to get into it, but he got bum rushed so fast that he didn't get into that. We were prepared. We had massive blow torches and everything else that you need to get through that steel. But we didn't need it. ... He didn't make it to that area of the house."
Trump also revealed that Maduro and his wife are being taken to the USS Iwo Jima and will be "heading to New York" to be indicted.
Trump, who has been on holiday in Florida, said he watched the attack from Mar-a-Lago and that he watched with others but did not specify.
-ABC News' Hannah Demissie and Michelle Stoddart
Trump's shifting explanations on Venezuela
Trump and his top aides have offered shifting explanations about taking action against Venezuela since the president's military buildup in Latin America began earlier this year.
Initially, Trump defended his military operations near Venezuela as keeping drugs out of the U.S., although experts say the cocaine that passes through Venezuela winds up mostly in Europe while fentanyl is sourced from China.
Trump also accused Maduro of emptying Venezuela's prisons and "mental institutions" into the U.S., although there's no evidence of these claims.
According to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have settled in the U.S. in recent years due to economic and political stability in their home country.
By mid-December, Trump accused Maduro of "stealing" U.S. oil and land. Trump appeared to be alluding to work done in the 1970s in Venezuela by Western oil companies before the government there opted to nationalize its reserves, eventually forcing out American companies.
In a Dec. 17 social media post -- around the same time sources say Trump was making a decision to greenlight the Jan. 3 military operation -- Trump said the U.S. military threat to Venezuela will "only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before -- Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."
Two days later at a press conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a more general explanation than access to oil reserves, calling Maduro's presidency "intolerable" because it was cooperating with "terrorist and criminal elements" instead of the Trump administration.
-ABC News' Anne Flaherty
Venezuela calls for UN Security Council meeting
Venezuela's Minister of Foreign Affairs Yvan Gil Pinto posted a statement on Telegram, saying Venezuela has requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council over the "aggression committed by the government of the United States."
"In the face of the criminal aggression committed by the government of the United States against the Homeland, we have requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which is responsible for enforcing international law," Gil Pinto wrote.
"No cowardly attack will overcome the strength of this people, who will emerge victorious," he added.
-ABC News’ Dragana Jovanovic
Vance says Maduro learned that Trump 'means what he says'
Vice President JD Vance shared in a post on X Trump's announcement of a "successful" operation in Venezuela.
Vance wrote that Trump offered Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro "multiple off ramps" while being clear that "the drug trafficking must stop, and the stolen oil must be returned to the United States."
"Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says. Kudos to our brave special operators who pulled off a truly impressive operation," Vance added.