Trump to Meet Special Forces Behind Caracas Raid That Captured Maduro

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet members of the special forces unit that carried out a January operation in Caracas resulting in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Trump will be accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump during the visit with troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Friday.

According to U.S. officials, the operation was launched late on January 3, when American forces conducted a helicopter assault on a secured compound in Caracas. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were detained during the raid.

Venezuelan authorities said 83 people were killed and more than 112 injured in the operation. They also reported that U.S. forces carried out airstrikes on Venezuelan military targets at the outset of the mission. No American service members were reported killed.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump and the First Lady would meet and congratulate the special forces members and their families for successfully conducting “Operation Absolute Resolve.”

Maduro is currently being held in the United States and faces charges including drug trafficking. He has denied the allegations. His next court hearing is scheduled for March 17 in New York.

Trump has authorized former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez to assume leadership in Maduro’s absence, on the condition that U.S. demands regarding access to oil resources and the easing of state repression are met.

The U.S. president has repeatedly praised the operation, describing it as a demonstration of American military capability. At a rally in Iowa in January, he called the mission “extraordinary.”

In a separate interview, Trump also referenced the use of a classified weapon dubbed the “Discombobulator,” claiming it disabled Venezuelan military equipment during the operation.