Trump releases photo of Maduro, says US will run Venezuela until they can do a 'safe' transition

The U.S. captured Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, U.S. President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Jan. 2 (U.S. time).

In a later social media post, he posted an image of Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima.

Here it is:

U.S. forces launched a lightning strike on the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Jan. 3, hitting several military targets, and capturing the president Nicolas Maduro as well as his wife.

In a speech on the attacks, Trump said that Maduro would "face the full might of American justice", suggesting that Maduro and his wife will face trial in either New York or Miami.

Trump confirmed that Maduro and his wife will face drug and narco terrorism charges in New York.

"We're going to run the country"

In his speech, he gave a brief glimpse of the immediate future of Venezuela.

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition."

“We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country."

Trump also warned that the attack on Caracas on Jan. 3 was supposed to be the "first wave", saying: "We are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so. So we were prepared to do a second wave.”

However, he said there does not appear to be a need for a second wave.

U.S. forces have been building up near Venezuela over the past six months, and have attacked shipping in the area, destroying what it claims were drug-carrying boats, as well as capturing at least two oil tankers in the past month.

Trump warned that the operation should act as a warning against those who would "threaten American sovereignty", and that under his administration, the U.S. would be "reasserting American power in a very powerful way".

Related story

Image from Donald Trump/Truth Social & White House/Facebook