IMMEDIATE Donald Trump, press conference on the capture of Nicolas Maduro and the operation in Venezuela
Donald Trump press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club. Photo: JOE RAEDLE / Getty images / Profimedia
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, is holding a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago residence at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, after Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro was captured in a large-scale operation on the capital Caracas.
Donald Trump's main statements, LIVE on HotNews.ro:
Earlier, Trump said in a telephone interview with Fox News that he watched the “amazing” operation in Venezuela like a movie.
According to the US President, Maduro and his wife are on board the USS Iwo Jima, which is heading to New York, where he will be tried for drug and arms trafficking in the federal court in Manhattan.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were forced out of their bedroom by US special forces during the raid, sources told CNN.
Trump, who spent Christmas and New Year in Palm Beach at his private Mar-a-Lago club, said he watched as the US military captured Maduro, including breaking down the steel doors there.
Trump: I've never seen anything like it
“Well, we watched everything from a camera. We had a camera and we watched everything, we watched every aspect. We were surrounded by a lot of people, including generals, and they knew everything that was going on. And it was very complex, extremely complex,” Trump said.
“Seriously, they broke down doors and they got into places they shouldn't have been able to get into, they broke through steel doors that were put in place for that very reason, and they were destroyed in seconds. I've never seen anything like that,” Trump continued.
He said some US servicemen were injured when a helicopter was hit during the operation, which had been meticulously planned in secret since December.
The American president has stated that the United States will not allow any official from the Venezuelan regime to succeed Maduro.
“We can't risk letting someone else take his place and continue down the same path.” The United States will be “very involved” in Venezuela's future, Trump added, saying he “wants freedom for the people.”
