Nicolas Maduro, wife plead not guilty to terrorism charges in court appearance

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., proclaimed that the U.S. is not at war with Venezuela despite the major operation targeting Maduro.

Johnson said the U.S. does not expect to deploy troops or have any "direct involvement in any other way beyond just coercing the interim government to to get that going."

"We are not at war," Johnson said. "We do not have U.S. armed forces in Venezuela, and we are not occupying that country."

"This is not a regime change," he continued. "This is a demand for change of behavior by a regime. The interim government is stood up now, and we are hopeful that they will be able to correct their action."

House Foreign Affairs Chair Brian Mast echoed Johnson, calling the operation a "specific law enforcement function" that removed a major obstacle for the Venezuelan people to "chart a new future."

Venezuela appeared to descend into chaos Monday night following reports of heavy gunfire and explosions near the presidential palace in Caracas.

Videos of the incident circulated on social media captured the sound of bullets raining down in the capital as residents appeared to scream for cover.

Colombian news outlet El Tiempo reported that the gunfire followed sightings of unidentified drones over the area. The exact number of drones that flew above the capital remains unknown.

A senior White House official told NewsNation that the U.S. is not involved but “the Administration is closely tracking the reports of gunfire out of Venezuela.”

El Tiempo said evacuations of government facilities were underway and the authorities have launched investigations and are working to contain the situation.

President Donald Trump has proposed a plan to rebuild Venezuela’s oil infrastructure following Maduro’s capture, with a timeline of less than 18 months.

Trump said American oil companies could expand operations in Venezuela with U.S. financial support, an effort he described as requiring a “tremendous amount of money.”

The companies, which would initially front the costs, could be reimbursed either directly by the U.S. government or through revenue generated by the oil sector, Trump said in a Monday interview with NBC News.

"I think we can do it in less time than that, but it’ll be a lot of money," Trump said. "A tremendous amount of money will have to be spent, and the oil companies will spend it, and then they’ll get reimbursed by us or through revenue.”

The administration reportedly believes that restoring Venezuela as a major oil producer would lower global oil prices, an outcome Trump said would benefit the American people.

"Having a Venezuela that’s an oil producer is good for the United States because it keeps the price of oil down," Trump added.

Venezuala’s government is launching a brutal crackdown to stifle any celebration of the authoritarian leader’s ousting, briefly detaining at least 14 journalists and media workers on Monday.

Under a newly declared state of emergency, paramilitary groups known as colectivos have flooded the streets of Caracas, intimidating residents and setting up checkpoints.

The National Union of Press Workers of Venezuela said all 14 journalists, including 11 from foreign outlets and one from national media, were arrested and then later released. Most of the arrests occurred near the National Assembly building, where Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was formally sworn in as interim president.

According to the Financial Times, the emergency decree ordered authorities to “immediately undertake the search for and arrest . . . of any person involved in the promotion of or support for the armed attack by the US against the territory of the republic."

China's top diplomat accused the United States of acting like a "world judge" by capturing Nicolas Maduro to put him on trial in New York, with Beijing set to confront Washington at the United Nations over the move's legality.

"We have never believed that any country can act as the world's police, nor do we accept that any nation can claim to be the world's judge," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Pakistani counterpart during a meeting in Beijing on Sunday, Reuters reported.

Beijing routinely criticizes military activity conducted without the U.N. Security Council's approval.

The U.S. military's removal of Maduro, the leader of one of China's strategic partners, could be a litmus test of Beijing's assertion that it can play a role in resolving global hotspot issues.

Beijing and Caracas have become close in recent years.

The relationship continued after former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died in 2013 and Maduro became leader.

Maduro's son was even enrolled at Peking University in 2016.

In return, China poured money into Venezuela's oil refineries and infrastructure, providing an economic lifeline as the U.S. and its allies tightened sanctions from 2017, according to Reuters.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., on Monday questioned whether the Trump administration has a strategy to run Venezuela.

"The United States seemingly has no strategy, no endgame, no plan, not even more than day to day, maybe hour by hour," Blumenthal told reporters on Capitol Hill. "It's making up this stuff as it goes along. And the American people, I think, are going to be more and more disquieted and dismayed by this massive armada and force of men, women in uniform, put in harm's way, potentially not only boots on the ground, but lives at risk in the air and on the sea."

The senator urged Republicans to "show some backbone and stand up to Donald Trump."

Blumenthal also questioned Trump's motive for capturing Nicolas Maduro, saying the U.S. military operation to oust the Venezuelan leader was intended to benefit Trump allies and oil executives.

"Congressional approval should have been sought under the Constitution, as it must be whenever America's men and women in uniform are put in harm's way during an act of war," he said. "And clearly invasion of a sovereign country is an act of war that requires congressional approval. Now, going forward, I think Congress has to show some spine and backbone, specifically my Republican colleagues when the vote on the war Powers Resolution occurs and Americans are going to be watching for whether they stand up for constitutional authority, that is not just an opportunity. It's an obligation on the part of Congress."

It is the perpetual question in Congress. Was the Speaker briefed? When will they give you a briefing?

A Congressional "briefing" is supposed to shed light on unanswered questions.

And the questions are legion after the U.S. military mission to extract Nicolás Maduro from Caracas.

That initial "briefing" unfolded Monday night at the Capitol. Granted, not for every lawmaker. But the bipartisan House and Senate leadership, top members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, leaders of the Armed Services Committees, and the chairs and ranking members of the Foreign Affairs/Foreign Relations Committees. Democrats seethed that the White House did not notify Congress in advance of the operation. Granted, "notification" is different from a briefing. And it’s a far cry from Congress voting to authorize or suspend an operation under its Article I "war powers." Democrats – and some Republicans – contend that only Congress can bless an operation like the one in Venezuela. But regardless, both sides wanted to know what comes next.

It's all in the eye of the beholder.

"This is a military operation. We all know that," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, on CNN.

"This was not an act of war or an invasion. This was the lawful apprehension of a fugitive from justice," countered Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., on Fox.

Most Democrats say the administration violated the Constitution, dispatching U.S. forces abroad without Congressional permission.

"The President literally dropped into a sovereign nation, executed on this warrant, pulled the leader out with no plan for the next day," said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Penn., on CNN.

Some lawmakers fretted about President Trump’s future intentions and wondered if Venezuela was just a precursor.

"Now he's doubling down on this reckless policy," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on MSNOW. "He’s thinking about Colombia and thinking about Cuba and Greenland. I mean, the average American is going to say, ‘What is going on in the White House?’"

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Chad Pergram.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said Monday he would "take up arms" against the U.S. if it attacks his country, following U.S. military action in Venezuela and the capture and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.

Petro, a former member of the leftist M-19 guerrilla movement that demobilized in the early 1990s, made the remarks in a post on X after President Trump suggested Colombia could be the next target in his administration’s war on drugs.

"Although I have not been a military man, I know about war and clandestinity," Petro wrote in a post translated to English from Spanish. "I swore not to touch a weapon again since the 1989 Peace Pact, but for the Homeland I will take up arms again that I do not want."

Petro also rejected Trump’s accusations that he is linked to drugs trafficking.

"I am not illegitimate, nor am I a narco," he wrote. "I only have as assets my family home that I still pay for with my salary. My bank statements have been published. No one could say that I have spent more than my salary. I am not greedy."

Petro's comments came after Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday.

He warned that Colombia is "very sick too" and is "run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long."

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Emma Bussey.

A man who had a brief exchange with Nicolas Maduro in a Manhattan federal court said he was a prisoner in Venezuela.

Pedro Rojas, 33, expressed happiness at Maduro arrest, saying  "it's a responsibility for the Venezuelan people."

He said he was a prisoner in Venezuela for four months.

While speaking to Fox News, Rojas praised President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the military operation that resulted in Maduro's capture.

"I understand, I like the situation, the work, and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the President Trump, okay" he said. "This situation, Saturday, last Saturday, it's, wow, it is, wow!"

Rojas said he briefly spoke with Maduro, who said: "He's innocent, a prisoner of the war, innocent and prisoner of war, I like Jesus."

Energy Secretary Chris Wright is reportedly planning to meet with oil industry executives this week to discuss revitalizing Venezuela’s energy sector following Nicolás Maduro’s capture.

Wright is slated to attend the Goldman Sachs Energy, Clean Tech & Utilities Conference in Miami where executives from major energy companies, including Chevron and ConocoPhillips, will be in attendance, Bloomberg reported.

Chevron is the oil corporation that maintains operations in the South American nation, which sits atop the world's largest oil reserves.

Before making any financial commitments, oil companies will want to ensure a stable government is in place in Caracas, the report states, as well as the rule of law of followed.

The Trump administration has already had conversations with multiple oil companies, according to an official.

U.S. producers are prepared to step in, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers told the news outlet.

“All of our oil companies are ready and willing to make big investments in Venezuela that will rebuild their oil infrastructure,” Rogers said.

Lawyers for the Trump administration asked a federal judge for additional time this week to detail its plans to provide due process for nearly 150 Venezuelan migrants that it deported to the Salvadoran CECOT prison in March, citing the removal of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader who was captured by U.S. troops during a surprise raid in Caracas. 

In the motion for an extension, submitted to U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, lawyers for the Justice Department cited the "substantial changes on the ground in Venezuela" and the "fluid nature of the unfolding situation" in the wake of the U.S. capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

They requested an additional seven days to comply with the court's order.

Boasberg, in response, told the Justice Department in a minute order that it had not complied with a local court rule requiring defendants in a civil case to first notify opposing counsel before asking the court for a delay – leaving the matter temporarily unresolved.

The update comes after months of tension-filled status hearings between lawyers for the Trump administration and lawyers for the 252 Venezuelan migrants who were deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison in March under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 immigration law, despite an emergency court order that sought to block the administration from immediately using the law to quickly remove certain migrants. 

The status of the migrants, who were removed again to Venezuela from CECOT in July as part of a prisoner exchange, further complicated the case. 

The exchange and U.S. involvement appeared to indicate at least some level of constructive custody of the migrants, as the court observed, prompting additional status hearings in the case. It also made it more difficult for lawyers representing the plaintiffs to track down all 252 CECOT migrants, some of whom had fled Venezuela due to persecution in their home country, and who have since remained in hiding.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Breanne Deppisch.

The White House on Monday denied a report that Maria Corina Machado’s acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize affected President Donald Trump’s decision not to endorse her for president of Venezuela.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified the matter with reporters.

“President Trump is routinely briefed on domestic political dynamics all over the world. The President and his national security team are making realistic decisions to finally ensure Venezuela aligns with the interests of the United States, and becomes a better country for the Venezuelan people," she said.

On Saturday, Trump had dismissed the idea of Machado, whose stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, won more than two-thirds of the vote in an election last year that saw Maduro refuse to leave office, The Washington Post reported.

"It’d be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump said when asked about Machado on Saturday, adding that she “doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country.”

Associates of Machado, who covertly escaped Venezuela last month with the help of the United States to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony in Norway, were reportedly caught off-guard by Trump’s comments.

Two people close to the White House told the newspaper that Trump's lack of interest in boosting Machado, stemmed from her decision to accept the Nobel Peace Prize, an award he has openly coveted.

“If she had turned it down and said, ‘I can’t accept it because it’s Donald Trump’s,’ she’d be the president of Venezuela today,” one person said.

Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2024, just after Nicolas Maduro became president after the death of Hugo Chavez, according to the United Nations. 

Millions of Venezuelans have fled the country in recent years amid hyper-inflation that resulted in rising food prices.

In December 2024, the U.N. estimated that 7.9 million Venezuelans, nearly 29% of the country's population, required humanitarian assistance.

From 2013 to 2020, Venezuela’s GDP contracted by more than 80% and a study by a Venezuelan university stated that roughly 73% of the country's population lived in poverty in 2024.

Meanwhile, Maduro allegedly allowed his security forces to enrich themselves through illicit gold mining, drug trafficking, and extortion.

Just two days after posting a social media video signaling his freedom from government office, former New York Mayor Eric Adams slammed fellow Democrats over their response to President Donald Trump’s operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

Adams previously posted a video of himself with a cigar and what appeared to be bourbon, smiling as he lambasted the government as "slow as s---" filled with people trying to throw "sand in the gears" and predicting an "unforgettable, bada--, no bull---- 2026" – before issuing a starkly different message on Maduro than his mayoral successor.

By the weekend, Adams followed through, openly weighing in by thanking Trump for "hit[ting] the cartels where it hurts" through Maduro’s detention and sharply criticizing former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Joe Biden’s approach to the Venezuelan strongman.

"I have seen firsthand how Nicolás Maduro destroyed Venezuela and turned it into a narco-state. Millions fled. Thousands landed in New York City," he said.

"Now in U.S. custody, the man who helped flood our streets with fentanyl is finally being held accountable. American lives were destroyed because of him."

Turning to those in his party, Adams said that days before Biden and Harris left office, they increased the bounty on Maduro to $25 million from an Obama-era $10 million.

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Charles Creitz.

Switzerland has frozen Nicolas Maduro's assets held in that country, the Swiss government said on Monday.

The measure, which impacts 37 people and is valid for four years, is intended on preventing the exit of potentially illicit assets. It came amid existing sanctions imposed on Venezuela since 2018, the Swiss government's Federal Council said in a statement.

"The reasons behind Mr Maduro's fall from power do not play a decisive role in asset freezes under the FIAA," the council said. "Nor does the question of whether the fall from power occurred lawfully or in violation of international law. The decisive factor is that a fall from power has occurred and that it is now possible that the country of origin will initiate legal proceedings in the future with regard to illicitly acquired assets."

"The asset freeze serves to enable any future mutual legal assistance proceedings," the statement continued. "Should these reveal that the funds were illicitly acquired, Switzerland will endeavour to use them for the benefit of the Venezuelan people."

Barry Pollack, the Washington-based attorney who once represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, will defend deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

Pollack appeared with Maduro on Monday as he pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal courtroom days after U.S. forces arrested Maduro and his wife during a military raid in the South American nation.

Pollack said he will challenge the legality of Maduro's arrest in his own country by a foreign power.

At Monday's court proceeding, Pollack said he anticipated extensive legal wrangling over what he termed Maduro's "military abduction," signaling the defense will argue Saturday's operation was unlawful, Reuters reported.

He may also claim that Maduro is immune from criminal charges as the head of a foreign government. 

Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela's vice president and oil minister, was formally sworn in Monday as the country's interim president.

Rodriguez, 56, a close confidant to former leader Nicolas Maduro, was sworn in by her brother Jorge, who is the head of the National Assembly, Reuters reported.

Also sworn in Monday were were 283 Venezuelan lawmakers elected last May.

Rodriguez took over the role as interim president as Maduro made his court appearance in New York on federal narco-terrorism charges.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday praised the weekend military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

"There’s people that have fled to the United States – we have a big community in South Florida – and you will be hard-pressed to find a reign as destructive as the Chavez-Maduro reign has been, taking a country that had been prosperous and has an abundance of resources and basically destroying it," DeSantis said, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Florida has a sizeable Venezuelan population that is largely anti-Maduro and could be an emerging political force in the future.

Many Venezuelans were seen cheering and jumping for joy in South Florida following news of Maduro's capture on Saturday.

During his remarks, DeSantis said Maduro "deserves to be brought to justice."

"And my sincere hope is that the people of Venezuela are going to be able to liberate themselves from the yoke of the Chavez-Maduro reign, because it has been one of the most destructive reigns of any in the Western hemisphere’s history," he added.

Venezuelan authorities have been ordered to find and arrest anyone involved in supporting the military operation that led to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro.

A state of emergency decree issued Saturday, but published Monday, orders police to "immediately begin the national search and capture of everyone involved in the promotion or support for the armed attack by the United States," according to the text of the decree, Reuters reported. 

It was not clear what charges could be levied against those taken into custody. 

Maduro made his first court appearance Monday in New York, days after he and his wife were arrested by U.S. forces over the weekend. 

Both have been charged by the Justice Department with narco-terrorism and other offenses. 

"I am innocent. I am not guilty of anything that is written here," Maduro said in court as the charges against him were read. 

In Maduro's absence, Delcy Rodríguez, his former number two, has been sworn in as the interim president of Venezuela. Rodriguez, 56, has long been a confidant and backer of Maduro. 

This is an excerpt from an article by Fox News' Louis Casiano