This article originally appeared on Politifact.
President Donald Trump said a U.S. military assault succeeded in capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, both facing U.S. charges related to cocaine trafficking under newly unsealed indictments.
In a Jan. 3 press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said the U.S. would "run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition."
WATCH: Trump says U.S. will 'run' Venezuela after capturing Maduro in surprise military strike
Trump also said Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as interim president. Trump said Rodríguez had talked to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and was "essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again."
However, Rodríguez criticized the U.S. military action as "brutal aggression" on state television and called for Maduro's immediate release.
Maduro, an authoritarian, has led Venezuela since 2013, succeeding an ideological ally, Hugo Chávez, who had been in office since 1999. Under both men, U.S. relations with Venezuela frayed over foreign policy, oil and human rights.
In July 2024, Maduro declared victory following an election that international observers described as fraudulent. The country's opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, received about 70% of the vote.
Tensions between Trump and Maduro escalated in September after the U.S. government began attacking vessels off the coast of...
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