Explosions were reported across Caracas in the early hours of Saturday as the United States launched a military operation that President Donald Trump later described as a “large-scale strike” against Venezuela. Trump said that Nicolás Maduro , Venezuela’s president, and his wife, Cilia Flores , had been “captured and flown out of the country” by US forces. The announcement followed hours of attacks on military and government sites in the Venezuelan capital and surrounding states.