Donald Trump's attack on Venezuela and 'capture' of Nicolás Maduro has been months in the making

The "capture" of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by US forces, announced by Donald Trump early on Saturday morning, followed months of escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Venezuela.

While Mr Maduro remained publicly defiant in the face of pressure to step down — all while the US built up a sizeable military force on Venezuela's doorstep — in private he was taking measures to dodge a potential precision strike, and even reportedly negotiating with American officials over a possible managed exit.

Here's what we know so far about Mr Maduro's capture, and how relations between the United States and Venezuela reached such a critical point.

A special forces raid in the dead of night

After explosions and low-flying aircraft were reported in Venezuela's capital early on Saturday morning, Mr Trump announced on his Truth Social site that the US had carried out a "large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader", conducted "in conjunction with US law enforcement".

While the precise details of the attack are yet to be confirmed, early reports indicate significant US air strikes have taken place against military installations in Caracas. The Venezuelan government says three nearby states — Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira — were also targeted.

American officials have also told media outlets that the US Army's Delta Force, an elite special forces unit reserved for dangerous covert missions, conducted a raid to capture Mr Maduro, who Mr Trump says has since been "flown out of the country".

The US president provided no details as to where or for what purpose Mr Maduro might have been taken, however the involvement of US law enforcement agencies could indicate the Trump administration intends to try the Venezuelan leader on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges, for which he was indicted in the Southern District of New York in 2020.

There were no American casualties during the raid, officials said, but the question of Venezuelan casualties has so far gone unanswered.

While the sudden seizure of the Venezuelan leader by a foreign power has shocked the international community, the move appears to have been anticipated by members of the Venezuelan government, including Mr Maduro himself.

While he publicly belittled the prospect of US action against him, he had reportedly taken to frequently changing where he slept and rotating through mobile phones in the months leading up to the attack, anticipating a potential US strike or raid on his residence.

The New York Times reported he had also expanded the role of Cuban bodyguards and counterintelligence officers in his inner circle, to reduce the risk he would be betrayed by Venezuelan officials with an eye to bringing about a post-Maduro future.

In the days prior to the attack, Mr Maduro also attempted to reach out to the Trump administration, floating the prospect of working together to combat drug trafficking.

It followed reports in October that Venezuelan officials had proposed to the White House a managed exit for Mr Maduro, in which he would step down in three years' time — a proposal the White House is said to have rejected.

Personal animosity, oil reserves fuel escalating tension

While recent White House rhetoric has focused on Venezuela's alleged role in trafficking drugs into the United States, personal tensions between the two presidents have also been escalating for close to a decade now.

Mr Maduro rose to power in 2013 following the sudden death of Venezuela's socialist president, former military lieutenant colonel Hugo Chavez, and has led the country through years of political turbulence.

In 2017, the first Trump administration imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil, amid claims of a humanitarian crisis unfolding under Mr Maduro's leadership.

A year later, Mr Trump labelled Mr Maduro's landslide re-election a "sham" — a view shared by much of the international community, given several popular opposition candidates were banned from running against him.

A similar situation unfolded in 2024 when Mr Maduro was re-elected for a second time, and Mr Trump continues to call the Venezuelan leader's presidency illegitimate due to the suppression of free and fair elections.

During his own 2024 election campaign, Mr Trump pledged to stop the importation of dangerous drugs such as fentanyl into the US from countries including Mexico and China — and since taking office, he has used drug trafficking as his primary justification for amping up pressure on Venezuela.

In March last year, Mr Trump signed a proclamation that designated the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang as a Foreign Terrorist Organization that had "unlawfully infiltrated the United States" and was waging "irregular warfare" against Americans.

The Trump administration also alleged Mr Maduro was the leader of the Cártel de los Soles, a vaguely defined group of military and political leaders which the White House claims he funded "to carry out its objective of using illegal narcotics as a weapon to 'flood' the United States".

The Trump administration has used the allegations as a legal and political basis for carrying out dozens of air strikes on Venezuelan boats accused of trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.

At least 115 people have been killed in those strikes, according to figures released by the US military.

Mr Maduro has always denied any involvement in crime, and has repeatedly accused the US of pursuing regime change in a bid to control Venezuela's natural resources, including its vast oil reserves.

Mr Trump, for his part, has made no secret of his desire to seize Venezuela's oil, telling a Republican convention in 2023 that if the US had invaded the country at the end of his first term, "we would have gotten all that oil. It would have been right next door."

Massive military build-up led to raid, land strikes

In October, Mr Trump said he had authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela.

That decision coincided with the largest build-up of US military forces in the region since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, including the deployment of the USS Gerald R Ford — the world's largest aircraft carrier — with about 15,000 personnel to the region.

The carrier arrived on November 16 with its strike group, joining at least seven other warships and a nuclear submarine.

In response, Mr Maduro engaged in public displays of defiance, repeatedly appearing at protests where he danced, sang and called for peace — all while mobilising 200,000 national military members and encouraging Venezuela's civilian army, the Bolivarian Militia, to take up arms in the event of a foreign attack.

On December 30, a CIA drone strike was carried out on a dock Mr Trump said was used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct land operation in the country.

Within days, the US's military presence in the region had extended further into Venezuela, and resulted in the "capture" of the country's president.