Maduro arraignment expected after helicopters fly Venezuelan leader to New York City

A pump jack stands near an oil spill at a Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) facility in the Orinoco Belt of El Tigre, Venezuela.

President Donald Trump says that U.S. oil companies are prepared to restore and rebuild Venezuela’s crumbling energy infrastructure instead of American taxpayers.

During a press gaggle aboard Air Force One, he explained that Venezuela’s once-massive oil industry has been left “rusty,” “broken,” and largely unusable after years of neglect and government seizure.

“They stole our oil,” Trump said. “They took our infrastructure, and now it’s all rotted and decayed.”

Trump says that the oil companies are preparing to invest billions footing the bill to restore production, rebuild refineries and bring energy back online.

He claims this move will stabilize the country while also benefiting U.S. interests.

“We’re not going to invest anything,” Trump said. “The oil companies are going to go in, rebuild the infrastructure, and take the oil out of the ground.”

He argued that instead of the U.S. engaging in nation-building they will allow private-sector investment to drive the recovery.

“We’re in the business of having countries around us that are viable and successful,” Trump said.

The president hopes that restoring Venezuela’s energy sector will assist in the reductions of migration pressures, allowing Venezuelans to rebuild their lives at home rather than fleeing abroad.

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrived at the West 30th Street Heliport for the arrival of captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in New York.

President Donald Trump speaking aboard Air Force One accused Venezuela’s former leadership of deliberately flooding the United States with drugs, criminals and gang members, calling the country a “narco-terrorist state.

”Trump says that Venezuela exported chaos when they sent drugs into the U.S. and allowed their criminal networks to operate freely.

“They sent drugs into our country,” Trump said. “We’re stopping it rapidly.”

He also claimed that U.S. interdiction efforts have cut maritime drug trafficking by 97 percent. 

He credits success to aggressive enforcement and military operations.

“Every time we knock down a boat, that’s lives saved,” he said.

The president implied that Venezuela sent the violent criminals north, including gang members and inmates released from prisons.

“He sent hundreds of thousands — even millions — of people from prisons, from mental institutions,” Trump said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has praised the operation, calling Venezuela a “drug caliphate in our backyard.”

“The right response is to take down the source of the problem,” Graham said. “President Trump did what others talked about but never did.”

Trump claims the crackdown is about protecting Americans, not politics.

“This is what the voters voted for,” he said.

A side by side photo of President Donald Trump and Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, made a statement on Facebook Sunday night issuing a public appeal for peace and cooperation with the U.S.

Rodriguez called for dialog not instead of conflict as rising tensions between Washington and Caracas remain high.

She says that Venezuela “reaffirms its commitment to peace and peaceful coexistence,” and is urging “balanced and respectful international relations” between the two countries.

“Our country aspires to live without external threats, in an environment of respect and international cooperation,” Rodríguez wrote.

Rodriguez also emphasized Venezuela’s desire for sovereignty and non-interference. She is framing the country’s diplomatic position as what she dubbed “sovereign equality” and international law.

“We invite the U.S. government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development,” she said.

In her statement she also referred to former President Nicolás Maduro, longstanding message opposing foreign intervention.

“President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war,” Rodríguez wrote, adding that the message reflects “all of Venezuela right now.”

She ends the message by calling for unity and asserting the country’s right to determine its own future.

“Venezuela has the right to peace, development, sovereignty and a future,” she wrote.

A damaged building following U.S. strikes on Venezuela, during which President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured, in Catia La Mar, Venezuela, Jan. 4, 2026. (REUTERS/Gaby Oraa)

The Cuban government said Sunday that 32 of its citizens were killed during the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

In statements posted on Facebook, Havana announced that January 5 and 6 would be observed as days of “national mourning” to honor those who had died.

“True to their responsibilities for security and defense, our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of the bombing of the facilities,” the Cuban government said.

Cuba also condemned the operation as a “criminal act of aggression and state terrorism.”

“Victims of yet another criminal act of aggression and state terrorism, the combatants, through their heroic actions, embodied the solidarity of millions of compatriots,” the statement added. "The Revolutionary Government will organize the appropriate actions to pay them the tribute they deserve."

Delcy Rodriguez speaks during the Antifascist Global Parliamentary Forum in Caracas on Nov. 5, 2024. (Credit: UAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump said Sunday that the U.S. needs “total access” from Delcy Rodríguez, who has assumed the role of interim president of Venezuela.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said broad access is necessary to help rebuild the South American nation.

“We need total access,” Trump said. “We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country.”

Pressed on what he meant by “other things,” Trump pointed to Venezuela’s crumbling infrastructure, including “roads that aren't built and bridges that are falling down.” 

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters aboard Air Force One on his way back to Washington, DC, on Jan. 4, 2026.

President Trump said Sunday that all U.S. service members injured during the military operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife are “in good shape.”

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One while en route to Washington, Trump described the mission as “very dangerous,” praising the service members for their “bravery” and “tremendous patriotism.”

“It was a very dangerous operation. It was amazing that we had a few injured, but all are in good shape right now," Trump said. “… Amazing talent and tremendous patriotism, bravery — The bravery was incredible.”

Trump said that bullets were “flying all over the place” as U.S. forces exited helicopters.

“They got off the helicopter, and the bullets were flying all over the place. As you know, one of the helicopters got hit pretty badly," Trump said. “But then we got everything back and nobody killed.”

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Sunday that Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro is ‘largely responsible’ for fueling America's drug crisis.

During an appearance on Fox News' “The Big Weekend Show," McLaughlin described Maduro’s capture as “a day of hope” for Americans and the Venezuelan people.

“What a start of the year for the American people, for President Trump, for the people of Venezuela, a day of hope and a day closer to justice for the American people," she said.

She said hundreds of thousands of American families continue to be affected by drug-related deaths, blaming Maduro for helping funnel narcotics into the U.S.

“Hundreds of thousands of Americans and American families grapple with overdoses, hundreds of thousands of deaths, and Nicolás Maduro is largely responsible for funneling deadly drugs into our borders, as Secretary Noem mentioned, really opening up their prisons and flooding the United States with these national security threats," McLaughlin said.

"I don't think it can be overstated, the thousands, if not millions, of lives that President Trump saved with this bold and brilliant action by our U.S. Armed forces.”

Mike Waltz speaks during an event titled "Passing the Baton: Strategies for Success" at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on Jan. 14, 2025. (Credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz defended the United States’ indictment of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro ahead of Monday’s U.N. Security Council meeting, while outlining what to expect from the proceedings.

"You're going to hear a lot of hand-wringing on Article 2 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with sovereignty, and I will remind everyone of Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which is a nation's inherent right to self-defense," Waltz said on "Sunday Morning Futures." "In this case, you have a drug kingpin, an illegitimate leader indicted in the United States coordinating with the likes of China, Russia, Iran, terrorist groups like Hezbollah, pumping drugs, thugs, and weapons into the United States of America, threatening to invade its neighbors."

"Was President Trump just going to let that status quo continue? Absolutely not. He gave diplomacy a chance. He gave Maduro a chance, but he took decisive action in the interests of the United States," he added.

The emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, requested by Venezuela and neighboring Colombia, is scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m. ET, Fox News national correspondent CB Cotton reported Saturday.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital's Taylor Penley.

The US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025. (Credit: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Top bipartisan, bicameral lawmakers with leadership roles or foreign policy and military portfolios are set to receive a classified briefing on Venezuela on Monday evening, Fox News has confirmed.

The briefing will include members of the Gang of Eight — the top House and Senate leaders along with the chairs and ranking members of the intelligence committees —as well as the chairs and ranking members of the Foreign Relations, Foreign Affairs and Armed Services committees.

The briefing will take place in the Senate SCIF and is expected to include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Fox News' Chad Pergram contributed to this report. 

Venezuela's Interior, Justice and Peace Minister Diosdado Cabello makes a speech during a press conference of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in Caracas, Venezuela on Nov 17, 2025. (Credit: Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A top Venezuelan official said Sunday that the South American country’s government remains united behind ousted dictator Nicolás Maduro.

“Here, the unity of the revolutionary force is more than guaranteed, and here there is only one president, whose name is Nicolas Maduro Moros,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said in a recording released by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. "Let no one fall for the enemy’s provocations.”

Officials in Maduro's government have denounced Saturday's seizure of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as a kidnapping, Reuters reported.

Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has assumed interim leadership of the country but has said that Maduro is still president.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., took issue with President Donald Trump's strikes on Venezuela, which led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, arguing the president's focus should be on domestic policy.

NBC's Kristen Welker asked Greene to respond to President Donald Trump's argument that running a country in South America was America first.

Greene said the administration's focus should be on Mexico, and argued that they were the source of the fentanyl overdoses and deaths, before arguing that domestic policy should be Trump's priority.

"My pushback here is on the Trump Administration that campaigned on Make America Great Again that we thought was putting America first. I want to see domestic policy be the priority that helps Americans afford life after four disastrous years of the Biden Administration," Greene told Welker.

Greene's last day in Congress is on Jan. 5. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital's Hanna Panreck.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sparred with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on Sunday as the "This Week" host repeatedly pressed Rubio over whether the U.S. was going to run Venezuela.

After extracting Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, President Donald Trump said during a press conference that the U.S. was now "going to run the country" until there can be a safe transition of power. 

Stephanopoulos asked Rubio what authority the U.S. had to run Venezuela.

"Well, first of all, what’s going to happen here is that we have a quarantine on their oil," Rubio said. "That means their economy will not be able to move forward until the conditions that are in the national interest of the United States and the interest of the Venezuelan people are met. And that’s what we intend to do. So, that leverage remains. That leverage is ongoing. And we expect that it’s going to lead to results here."

Rubio added that the goal was to ensure Venezuela would no longer be "a narco-trafficking paradise" that aids U.S. adversaries and to give Venezuelans a better future.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News Digital's Lindsay Kornick.

The Starlink logo appears on a smartphone screen on Oct. 11, 2025. (Credit: Matteo Della Torre/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Elon Musk’s Starlink announced Sunday that it will provide free high-speed internet service to the people of Venezuela in the wake of the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro.

“Starlink is providing free broadband service to the people of Venezuela through February 3, ensuring continued connectivity,” the Starlink account wrote in a post on X.

Musk reposted the announcement, writing, “In support of the people of Venezuela,” alongside the Venezuelan flag emoji.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has been outspoken in his support of the operation that led to Maduro’s capture, predicting a brighter future for the country.

“Long overdue prosperity is coming for the people of Venezuela,” Musk wrote Saturday.

Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, provides high-speed internet to more than 6 million active users worldwide, according to its website.

Council on Foreign Relations President Mike Froman said he does not expect Venezuela’s transition to new leadership to happen quickly following the capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

During a Sunday appearance on “Fox News Live,” Froman warned major political and economic uncertainties remain, particularly when it comes to elections and long-term stability.

“I think there's a question of will there be elections?” Froman said. "How soon will the elections happen?"

Froman also emphasized the importance of a legitimate democratic process.

“Clearly, we'd like to see a real, free and fair election and see who comes out of that, and we're going to want to create the conditions that are necessary for that,” Froman said.

He also pointed to unresolved questions surrounding Venezuela’s oil sector. 

“And then when it comes to the issue of oil, we have American companies that have had a long interest in Venezuela," he said. "… Whether or not they want to go back in and invest billions of dollars to rebuild the infrastructure until there really is a stable political situation and a stable security situation remains to be seen.”

On the heels of the stunning capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. now finds itself in a strategic position to influence the future of the world’s largest oil reserves.

Venezuela, roughly twice the size of California, is home to an estimated 300 billion barrels of oil, nearly four times the size of U.S. reserves and the largest in the world.

But Venezuela’s immense resource wealth has collided with years of economic collapse and political instability, leaving the country unable to sustain meaningful production.

Similar dynamics have unfolded in places like Iran and Libya, where turmoil, financial distress, and crumbling infrastructure have kept vast reserves locked underground.

A side-by-side photo of President Donald Trump and Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. (Joe Raedle/Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump issued a pointed warning to Venezuela’s new leader on Sunday, suggesting severe consequences if she continues to resist U.S. demands following the American-led operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

In an interview with The Atlantic, Trump said Delcy Rodríguez would "pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro" if she fails to "do what’s right," adding that his administration would not tolerate what he described as her defiant rejection of the U.S. intervention.

Defending that approach, Trump said, "Rebuilding there and regime change, anything you want to call it, is better than what you have right now. Can’t get any worse," he added.

This is an excerpt from a story.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks to a reporter after a vote in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The White House on Sunday fired back at comments from Senator Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who claimed that the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro “has nothing to do with American security.”

In a post on X, Murphy argued that Venezuela does not pose a threat to the U.S., accusing President Trump of using foreign policy to benefit oil companies and his “Wall Street friends.”

"The invasion of Venezuela has nothing to do with American security. Venezuela is not a security threat to the U.S.," Murphy wrote, alongside a video of a CNN interview. “This is about making Trump's oil industry and Wall Street friends rich. Trump's foreign policy — the Middle East, Russia, Venezuela — is fundamentally corrupt.”

The White House’s Rapid Response account swiftly pushed back, accusing Murphy of ignoring the impact of crime and drug trafficking on Americans.

“You are a buffoon, Chris," the White House’s Rapid Response account wrote. “Tell that to the families of the innocent Americans brutally murdered by the gang members the regime imported here — or the drugs they trafficked here. You’re sick.”

Vice President JD Vance on Sunday rejected claims that Venezuela plays no role in drug trafficking, saying the country remains a major source of cocaine and has also been linked to fentanyl.

In a lengthy post on X, Vance argued that critics focus too narrowly on fentanyl while ignoring cocaine, which he called “a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels.”

“You see a lot [of] claims that Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere. I want to address this: First off, fentanyl isn't the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was),” Vance wrote. “Second, cocaine, which is the main drug trafficked out of Venezuela, is a profit center for all of the Latin America cartels. If you cut out the money from cocaine (or even reduce it) you substantially weaken the cartels overall. Also, cocaine is bad too!”

Vance acknowledged that “a lot” of the fentanyl entering the U.S. comes from Mexico, but said addressing that flow remains a priority for the Trump administration.

“Third, yes, a lot of fentanyl is coming out of Mexico. That continues to be a focus of our policy in Mexico and is a reason why President Trump shut the border on day one.”

He also addressed criticism surrounding oil, pointing to Venezuela’s expropriation of American oil property roughly two decades ago.

“Fourth, I see a lot of criticism about oil. About 20 years ago, Venezuela expropriated American oil property and until recently used that stolen property to get rich and fund their narcoterrorist activities,” Vance said. "I understand the anxiety over the use of military force, but are we just supposed to allow a communist to steal our stuff in our hemisphere and do nothing? Great powers don't act like that. The United States, thanks to President Trump's leadership, is a great power again. Everyone should take note.”

Before-and-after satellite images show damage to military buildings at the Fuerte Tiuna complex outside Caracas, Venezuela, following U.S. strikes. (Credit: Satellite image (c) 2026 Vantor via Getty Images)

Satellite images taken Saturday show the scope of the damage caused by the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Before-and-after aerial photos reveal widespread destruction at the Fuerte Tiuna military installation outside Caracas, where Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were ultimately taken into custody.

Several buildings inside the complex appear badly damaged or destroyed, and multiple vehicles were reduced to rubble.

Maduro and Flores were captured at their home within the Fuerte Tiuna complex, according to Venezuelan ruling party leader Nahum Fernández.

Venezuelan officials said people were killed during the operation, though the total number of casualties remains unclear, The Associated Press reported.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said the Cuban regime were "the ones propping up" Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro, claiming that the dictator's security operations are controlled by Cuban officials.

“I don't think it's any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro,” Rubio said in an interview with NBC News. “His entire, like, internal security force, his internal security apparatus, is entirely controlled by Cubans.”

Rubio also said Cuban personnel were responsible for guarding Maduro.

“It was Cubans that guarded Maduro,” he said. “He was not guarded by Venezuelan bodyguards. He had Cuban bodyguards. In terms of their internal intelligence — who spies on who inside to make sure there are no traitors — those are all Cubans.” 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will be arraigned in federal court at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time in New York City on Monday, federal authorities announced,

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas in a daring military operation ordered by President Donald Trump.

Maduro has been charged with four counts - narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine-guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine-guns and destructive devices. 

His wife has been charged with three counts, including cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine-guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine-guns and destructive devices. 

Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this report.

As President Donald Trump  vows to return U.S. energy investment to Venezuela, the Latin American country remains on the hook for billions of dollars owed to American energy companies following years-old legal battles over oil contracts.

Once a key supplier to global oil markets, Venezuela reshaped its relationship with international energy companies in the mid-2000s, as then-President Hugo Chávez tightened state control over the oil industry.

Between 2004 and 2007, Chávez effectively forced foreign companies to renegotiate their contracts with the government. The new terms sharply reduced the role and profits of private firms while strengthening Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

The move drove some of the world’s largest oil companies out of the country.

ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips exited Venezuela in 2007 and later filed claims against the government in international arbitration courts. Those courts ultimately ruled in favor of the companies, ordering Venezuela to pay ConocoPhillips more than $10 billion and ExxonMobil more than $1 billion.

While precise figures are difficult to verify since Venezuela has not published comprehensive debt statistics in years, the International Monetary Fund estimates the country’s economy will total about $82.8 billion in 2025. 

Debt levels, however, stand at nearly 200% of that total, meaning Venezuela owes nearly two dollars for every dollar it produces. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Amanda Macias

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says President Donald Trump's message to Venezuela's vice president is clear: "You can lead, or you can get out of the way."

"President Trump is done negotiating. He proved that a couple of days ago, that he is a man of action, that when someone is threatening the United States, he will defend it with every resource that we have, and he'll continue to do that," Noem told "Fox News Sunday."

"His conversations now with the vice president in Venezuela are very matter-of-fact and very clear: 'You can lead, or you can get out of the way because we're not going to allow you to continue to subvert our American influence and our need to have a free country like Venezuela to work with rather than to have dictators in place who perpetuate crimes and drug trafficking.'"

Noem's remarks came on the heels of the Trump administration's successful operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, a measure that garnered mixed reactions as Democrats and Republicans debated legality concerns and what the future might hold for the South American country.

The operation followed months-long efforts to halt alleged narcoterrorism schemes tied to the country, including strikes on suspected drug boats in Caribbean waters.

Noem cited the strikes as evidence of Trump's willingness to take action.

"The Coast Guard has been heavily involved in stopping a lot of this shadow fleet of oil that has been trafficking illegally to many of our enemies in other countries," she continued. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Taylor Penley.

New York gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman took a shot at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's response to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday.

Blakeman, a Republican, made the comments during a Sunday appearance on Fox News, saying Hochul was wrong to argue the move was an abuse of power.

"I don't understand Mayor Mamdani or Governor Hochul in calling this an abuse of power. This is the arrest of a drug lord who has preyed on the people of New York as well as the rest of America. And we are a better and safer country and a better safer state with him behind bars.

"I want to congratulate President Trump, Secretary Rubio, Secretary Hegseth, and Attorney General Bondi. This was masterful. It was surgical. It was strategic. And it was necessary," Blakeman said.

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio accepted the Desert Palm Achievement Award remotely on Saturday due to travel restrictions resulting from U.S. strikes on Venezuela.

DiCaprio was set to accept the award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival for his role in "One Battle After Another." He accepted it remotely after being unable to leave St. Barts, where he spent the New Year, according to Variety.

The U.S. military carried out a "large-scale strike" in Venezuela early Saturday morning and took Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and his wife into custody, President Donald Trump confirmed.

"Leonardo DiCaprio is unable to join us in person tonight due to unexpected travel disruptions and restricted airspace," a spokesperson for the Palm Springs International Film Festival told Variety. "While we will miss celebrating with him in person, we are honored to recognize his exceptional work and lasting contributions to cinema. His talent and dedication to the craft continue to inspire, and we are delighted to celebrate him with the Desert Palm Achievement Award this evening."

The Palm Springs International Film Festival did not immediately return a request for comment. Variety posted a video of DiCaprio accepting the award on X.

"Movies are still meant to be experienced together in a theater. Right now, that belief matters more than ever," DiCaprio said. "Original films are harder to make and harder to protect, but movies still matter. Not the content, but cinema, stories made by people meant to be shared in a dark room in a communal experience."

Palm Springs International Airport announced on X on Saturday that departing flights were at a ground stop.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Hanna Panreck

American energy firms have yet to say whether they plan to return to Venezuela to resurrect an oil industry hollowed out by years of neglect.

Chevron, the only U.S. energy titan operating in Venezuela, said in a statement to Fox News Digital that it was following "relevant laws and regulations."

"Chevron remains focused on the safety and well-being of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets," a Chevron spokesperson added.

ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did ConocoPhillips.

President Donald Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday that the U.S. would sell large amounts of Venezuelan oil to other countries after ramping up production. 

Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves, but years of underinvestment and crumbling infrastructure have left much of that wealth locked away. Trump said U.S. energy firms could return to the country to unlock that potential.

"We are going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken oil infrastructure and start making money for the country," he said.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Amanda Macias.

Pope Leo XIV reacted to the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday, saying he has "concern" about the situation.

The Vatican released a statement saying Leo "urged all to overcome violence and respect the rule of law and human rights, and invited everyone to join in prayer, entrusting the Venezuelan people to the intercession of Our Lady of Coromoto and of Saints José Gregorio Hernández and Sister Carmen Rendiles."

"With a heart full of concern I follow the developments," the pope said. "The good of the beloved Venezuelan people must prevail over every other consideration."

The pope went on to urge Catholics to pray for the Venezuelan people.

Former Attorney General Bill Barr predicted that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro could face a sentence rivaling that of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

Barr made the prediction during a Sunday morning appearance on Fox News, just a day after the U.S. captured Maduro from the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

Noriega was famously charged with multiple crimes by several countries, including a 40-year sentence for drug trafficking in the U.S. He served 17 years of that sentence before being extradited to France, where he served a 7-year sentence for money laundering. Finally, he was extradited back to Panama for a 60-year sentence on murder and corruption charges.

Noriega died in prison in 2017.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., pushed back Saturday against Democratic criticism of President Trump’s capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, arguing the administration carefully weighed risks before acting.

"Democrats have total egg on their face[s] from previous operations saying we're going to be in these protracted long-war operations that did not take place," Mast said on "The Big Weekend Show."

"President Trump is not the protracted war president. He is the person that is going in there with any operations, saying… what is the mission that has to be accomplished?" 

Mast contrasted Trump’s approach with past administrations, pointing to limited strikes in Syria during Trump’s first term and efforts to lay the groundwork for a conditions-based withdrawal from Afghanistan.

He also cited a recent targeted operation against Iran, which he said neutralized threats without triggering a broader conflict or violating U.S. war powers.

As Democrats questioned the legality of the operation, other Republican lawmakers defended it Saturday, including Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.

"The legality is very well established," Crenshaw said, citing the first Bush administration’s capture of former Panamanian strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega and the Obama administration’s actions against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi as precedent.

"You're going after a person who's indicted in U.S. courts, and you're going after someone who we've established as an imminent danger to U.S. national security," Crenshaw added.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Taylor Penley.

Video obtained by Fox News shows Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro being processed at a federal facility in New York City, after he and his wife were arrested in a U.S. military operation in Caracas.

Maduro is expected to face arraignment as early as Monday on narcoterrorism charges.

President Donald Trump's administration highlighted the footage on social media on Sunday, with the White House rapid response account writing simply, "perp walked."

The daring strike on Venezuela's capital saw the capture of Maduro and his wife while the U.S. suffered no casualties. One U.S. helicopter was damaged in the operation, but military officials said it remained flyable.

President Donald Trump sent a message to Nicolas Maduro's allies in Venezuela that they must either "surrender or play ball," says Fox News senior correspondent Benjamin Hall.

Hall appeared on Fox News on Sunday and noted that Trump said he had a call with Maduro barely a week before Saturday's strike in Caracas. Trump said he gave Maduro an ultimatum demanding his surrender and that Maduro was "not willing."

Hall said there remain several top leaders in Venezuela who are aligned with Maduro, and their removal remains a problem for the U.S.

With Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro extracted from Caracas on Jan. 3, Venezuelans and the world are anxious to learn about the future that awaits.

In a press conference following the Maduro operation on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. is "going to run the country" until a transition can be safely made.

Isaias Medina, an international lawyer and former senior Venezuelan diplomat, said a peaceful transition is vital for the 9 million to 10 million Venezuelans who are forcibly displaced and living in exile. Medina, who resigned his diplomatic post in protest against Maduro's rule in 2017, told Fox News Digital that exiled Venezuelans "have been preparing ourselves to go back to rebuild our nation."

With support from international organizations like the Organization of American States, Medina said the most important next step for Venezuela is to establish a transitional government that can restore the rule of law and rebuild institutions that have been decimated under the Maduro regime. Setting in place free and fair elections is particularly important, Medina said, noting that it’s "a legal obligation owed to [Venezuela’s] people, because on their occupied territory, it was never equitable or really free."

Under Maduro, Medina said that "there was no separation of powers, there was no rule of law, there was not even sovereignty." Instead, Medina said Venezuela had an occupied territory extensively influenced by terrorist and trafficking organizations Hamas, Hezbollah, the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He said these groups were exploiting Venezuelan resources.

David Daoud, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that so long as Venezuela poses no threat to U.S. national security, the "ideal situation" for Venezuela "would be American guidance for determined local action." 

"The best we can shepherd Venezuela to be is a productive member of the family of nations, and that’s something that we can help with a softer touch, without boots on the ground," Daoud said. "I don’t think we need to be in the business of trying to create Jeffersonian democracies anywhere."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy weighed in Saturday on the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, telling reporters that Washington "knows what to do next."

Zelenskyy was speaking to reporters in Kyiv after meeting with national security advisors from member states of the Coalition of the Willing when he was asked about the stunning U.S. military operation that unfolded in the early morning hours in Caracas.

"Regarding Venezuela? How should we respond to this?" Zelenskyy asked in Ukrainian. "Well, what can I say is, if you can do that with dictators, then the United States knows what to do next," he said with a smile.

U.S. forces took Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their compound, where they were boarded onto the USS Iwo Jima and flown to New York to face federal charges.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the capture of Maduro and his wife, urging the Trump administration to release the "legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse."

In a superseding indictment released Saturday by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Maduro is charged with leading a narco-terrorism conspiracy tied to large-scale cocaine trafficking into the United States, along with related drug importation and weapons offenses.

Flores is also charged in the same indictment with participating in a decades-long cocaine trafficking conspiracy and related firearms offenses.

The charges build on prior indictments from 2020.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Ashley Carnahan.

At least one House Democrat is praising President Donald Trump's capture of Nicolás Maduro after the U.S. conducted surprise strikes in Venezuela overnight Saturday night.

"The capture of the brutal, illegitimate ruler of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, who oppressed Venezuela's people is welcome news for my friends and neighbors who fled his violent, lawless, and disastrous rule. However, cutting off the head of a snake is fruitless if it just regrows," Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., wrote on X.

"Venezuelans deserve the promise of democracy and the rule of law, not a state of endless violence and spiraling disorder. My hope is it offers a passage to true democracy and liberation. This action offers beleaguered Venezuelans a chance to seat their true, democratically elected president, Edmundo González."

She criticized the GOP administration for apparently failing to notify Congress beforehand, however.

"I'll demand answers as to why Congress and the American people were bypassed in this effort. The absence of congressional involvement prior to this action risks the continuation of the illegitimate Venezuelan regime. Congress must be properly informed and hold hearings on this invasion. As always, I will work to bring about the promise of a liberated Venezuela," she wrote.

Wasserman Schultz's home state of Florida is notably home to a significant number of Venezuelan refugees, as well as refugees from other communist Latin American dictatorships like Cuba.

Her response to the U.S. operation is far different from the majority of her colleagues on the left, however.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind.

This is an excerpt from an opinion article by Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley.

It can fairly be said that the most precarious jobs in the world are those of a golf ball collector at a driving range, a mascot at a Chuck E. Cheese, and a Trump administration lawyer.

That was evident at the press conference yesterday as President Trump blew apart the carefully constructed narrative presented earlier for the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Some of us had written that Trump had a winning legal argument by focusing on the operation as the seizure of two indicted individuals in reliance on past judicial rulings, including the decisions in the case of former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and retired Air Force Gen. Dan Caine stayed on script and reinforced this narrative. Both repeatedly noted that this was an operation intended to bring two individuals to justice and that law enforcement personnel were part of the extraction team to place them in legal custody. Rubio was, again, particularly effective in emphasizing that Maduro was not the head of state but a criminal dictator who took control after losing democratic elections.

However, while noting the purpose of the capture, Trump proceeded to declare that the United States would engage in nation-building to achieve lasting regime change. He stated that they would be running Venezuela to ensure a friendly government and the repayment of seized U.S. property dating back to the government of Maduro's mentor and predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

This city is full of self-proclaimed Trump whisperers who rarely score above random selection in their predictions. However, there are certain pronounced elements in Trump’s approach to such matters. First, he is the most transparent president in my lifetime with prolonged (at times excruciatingly long) press conferences and a brutal frankness about his motivations. Second, he is unabashedly and undeniably transactional in most of his dealings. He is not ashamed to state what he wants the country to get out of the deal.

In Venezuela, he wants a stable partner, and he wants oil.

Former Acting ICE Director Jonathan Fahey joined 'Fox News Live' to weigh in on the arrest of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro and the evidence that will be used against him in court.

U.S. forces captured Maduro and flew him to New York City on Sunday, where is his expected to face arraignment on narcoterrorism charges.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., joined Fox News to react to Democratic backlash over Nicolas Maduro’s capture and discusses what comes next for Venezuela and U.S. strategy in the region.

Democrats will hold an emergency caucus meeting regarding the Venezuela attack later on Sunday.

Vice President JD Vance was not present at President Donald Trump’s news conference announcing the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro because of heightened security and secrecy concerns, according to a spokesperson, despite being closely involved in the planning and execution of the operation.

Trump briefed the press on the mission hours after Maduro was taken into U.S. custody, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs.

Vance publicly praised the operation on X but did not attend the briefing. Vance did meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday to discuss the strikes but was not at Trump’s golf club Friday night when senior Trump officials monitored the mission because the national security team "was concerned a late-night motorcade movement by the Vice President while the operation was getting underway may tip off the Venezuelans." 

"The Vice President joined by secure video conference throughout the night to monitor the operation. He returned to Cincinnati after the operation concluded."

Due to "increased security concerns," Trump and Vance are limiting the "frequency and duration" of time they spend together outside the White House, the Vance spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

"Maduro is the newest person to find out that President Trump means what he says," Vance wrote on X after the operation was made public.

Trump, during his news conference, revealed that the U.S. will "run" Venezuela until a "safe, orderly" transition of power can take place. 

"And PSA for everyone saying this was ‘illegal’: Maduro has multiple indictments in the United States for narco-terrorism. You don't get to avoid justice for drug trafficking in the United States because you live in a palace in Caracas," he wrote in a separate post. 

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro will face sweeping criminal charges on U.S. soil following his capture this weekend, according to an unsealed indictment released by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Maduro, who was elected in 2013 and served as Hugo Chavez's vice president, is facing charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the U.S.

"It's just it was an amazing thing, the amazing job that these people did. There's nobody else could have done anything like it," Trump said of the operation.

The unsealed indictment focuses on how Maduro allegedly enriched himself and "political elites" by reportedly partnering with vicious gangs and drug cartels that have established syndicates across the Western Hemisphere, including in the U.S., such as New York. The indictment lists six individuals as defendants, including Maduro, his wife, his son and Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, the leader of a vicious Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua.

The indictment alleges that Maduro "sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking."

Fox News' Rachel Wolf contributed to this report.

Deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife arrived at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn late Saturday after being transported by helicopter from the Drug Enforcement Agency in Manhattan after being processed.

The helicopter convoy flew past the Statue of Liberty en-route to Brooklyn, a moment broadcast live as part of the transfer.

Outside the detention center, bystanders gathered behind barricades, some cheering and jeering while waving Venezuelan and American flags and recording the arrival on their phones.

Maduro is expected to remain in federal custody as he prepares to face narcoterrorism and weapons charges in the Southern District of New York.