Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump Donald Trump stunned the world when he launched a military strike against Venezuela on Saturday and seized its president. While tensions have been rising between the two countries, this sudden escalation caught even the US’s close allies – including the UK – completely off-guard. Here’s a look at how we got here, and what could happen next. What did the US do over the weekend? Trump ordered military strikes on Venezuela, and sent his troops into the capital Caracas to seize Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. According to Venezuelan officials, the US attack killed at least 40 people, both military and civilians, including a large proportion of Maduro’s security team. The Venezuelan president and first lady were flown to New York City where they have been charged with narco-terrorism, cocaine importation and conspiracy to possess machine guns. Trump’s top team watched the attack from the president’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, and the president later compared it to a “watching a TV show”. What happens next? Trump has insisted the US will now “run the country until such a time as we can do a safe and proper and judicious transition” – although his government is “not afraid of boots on the ground”. Venezuela’s vice-president Delcy Rodriguez has stepped in to act as interim leader in the short-term. Trump alleges she is willing to do “whatever the US asks” – but Rodriguez has already called for Maduro’s release, and insisted the country is ready to defend itself against further aggression. She said: “Our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.” The Venezuelan government has accused the US of trying to “forcibly break the political independence of the nation”, too. The US president has since warned Rodriguez she could “pay a very big price” if she “doesn’t do what’s right”. Trump also wants to send US oil companies into Venezuela to allegedly fix its infrastructure and “start making money for the country” – while taking a “tremendous amount of wealth from the ground” by selling that oil onto other nations. How does Trump justify his actions? Maduro is widely seen as an autocrat and Trump has been calling for his removal since his first term, insisting that the Venezuelan president was not elected legally. He also doubled the reward for information about Maduro, too. The US claims to have conducted 30 strikes on drug-smuggling boats in recent weeks – killing more than 110 people – amid a wider crackdown on the drug trade, particularly fentanyl and cocaine. Trump also blamed Maduro for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants who have flocked to the US amid its economic crisis and repression. The US president has baselessly accused Maduro of “emptying his prisons and insane asylums” and forcing its occupants to flee to the States. Trump designated two Venezuelan criminal groups as Foreign Terrorist Organisations, and claimed one is led by Maduro last year. Maduro has repeatedly rejected Trump’s accusations that he is a cartel leader, and claims the States’ “war on drugs” is a means to depose him so it can access Venezuela’s oil. The country has more than 300 billion barrels of oil, according to estimates, making it the largest oil reserves on Earth. Does everyone agree with the US claim? Maduro’s legitimacy as a leader has long been in question as he rules over a dictatorship. He has led Venezuela ever since he was elected in 2013 on a left-wing ticket, and introduced mass repression. In 2024, he declared victory in the presidential election – even though the opposition said its candidate had won by a landslide. However, the way Trump has deposed Maduro has been criticised. Plenty of people believe it is an overreach of power which sets a dangerous precedent on the world stage. Venezuela is seen as a means of drug transit state rather than a producer of drugs, calling Trump’s justification for his attack into question. Even his earlier strikes on supposed drug-trafficking boats have been scrutinised for not being legitimate military targets. Trump also pardoned the former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez from the same jail last month after he was convicted of drug-trafficking. Following Maduro’s capture, Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries said Trump had effectively undertaken an “act of war”. Meanwhile, Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene – former Trump supporter – suggested this was a move away from America First. New York mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters he had personally told the president of his “opposition” to military action in Venezuela, telling reporters. What does this mean for other countries? Some countries such as China, Russia and Brazil have called out the move, while Argentina has welcomed it. Beijing said the US’s moves were a “clear violation of international law”. But there are wider fears this could embolden other aggressive action from large nations with smaller neighbours. China is known to have ambitions to seize Taiwan, while Russia already holds a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign land – but could easily move to seize more. Trump has also threatened Cuba, Greenland, and Colombia with further military action. Related... 'Just Gutless': Labour MPs Fume Over Starmer's Response To Trump's Venezuela Action Democratic Leader Gives Trump Brutal Reality Check About Claims That He’s Going To ‘Run’ Venezuela Trump Issues Warning To Other Countries After Venezuela Strike