President Donald Trump stated during the 29 minutes ending at 5:15 p.m. UTC on January 3, 2026, that the United States will run Venezuela until a safe transition occurs, with major U.S. oil companies investing billions to repair infrastructure, and stands ready for a second, larger attack if necessary, according to X posts by @Acyn and @atrupar citing his remarks. Trump explained Venezuela hosted foreign adversaries and acquired weapons threatening U.S. interests, which were used last night, per @Acyn. GeoConfirmed geolocated strike damage in Caracas at coordinates 10.503369, -66.929182 to the Cagigal Observatory, used by the General Command of the Bolivarian Militia, debunking misinformation claiming it was Hugo Chávez's mausoleum, as detailed in their X thread. The Financial Times reported via X that Venezuela's layered air defenses presented little resistance to the U.S. strike capturing Nicolás Maduro earlier today. X user @ThomasVLinge noted Diosdado Cabello now leads the remaining regime, with opposition figures MarĂa Corina Machado and Edmundo González in exile. All major U.S. media covered the developments, per X user @OrlvndoA. X user @lorddrey stated China and Russia will not intervene militarily to aid Venezuela. These follow Trump's prior release of Maduro's detention photo aboard the USS Iwo Jima and related U.S. operations in Caracas, per previous reports.
