Trump Meets US Special Forces Behind Venezuela Maduro Capture: Strategic Victory, Global Impact

United States President Donald J. Trump is set to meet the elite U.S. special forces credited with capturing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro during a bold military operation in Caracas earlier this year. The visit, scheduled for Friday at the Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina, will include First Lady Melania Trump and highlight the role of the troops who executed what the White House calls “Operation Absolute Resolve.”

In the early hours of January 3, U.S. special operations forces inserted by helicopter into the Venezuelan capital under the cover of darkness and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from a fortified compound. This high-risk operation involved more than 150 aircraft and months of intelligence preparation, underscoring a new phase in U.S. military engagement in Latin America.

The operation, which U.S. officials have framed as a law-enforcement and counternarcotics action, resulted in Maduro being flown to New York to face federal charges including drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. No U.S. service members were reported killed, although estimates suggest dozens of Venezuelan and allied forces died in the raid.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump will honour the troops and meet with military families, reinforcing political support for decisive foreign policy actions as part of broader efforts to counter narco-terrorism and reinforce U.S. influence in the region.

The Maduro capture and Trump’s engagement with the forces behind it continue to shape geopolitical and economic debates, from oil markets and regional stability to questions over executive military authority.