U.S. President Donald Trump gets his man.

President Donald Trump, joined by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, announces plans for a “Golden Fleet” of new U.S. Navy battleships, Monday, December 22, 2025, at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

The news this morning came swift and staggering across our news screens and social media feeds:

Venezuelan Dictator and notorious strongman Nicholas Maduro was arrested by U.S. Special Forces operators overnight and is now in custody.

Together with his wife, Mr. Maduro is now expected to face trial in New York.

Venezuelans, at home and abroad, are celebrating the great victory with gusto. Many expatriated Venezuelans have been waiting a very long time for this banner day.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who is already facing a storm of media criticism for this move, had the following to say:

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. The people that are standing right behind me, we're going to be running it. We're going to be bringing it back.""

Until very recently, it was rumored that Maduro was in talks with Trump administration and looking for an exit. Supposedly, the deal was held up after Maduro's demands to keep his accumulated wealth and top lieutenants were rebuffed by Donald Trump.

"Sending prisoners and people from mental institutions and drug lords — they sent them by the hundreds of thousands... and that is just unforgivable," President Trump said. "That's why he wanted to negotiate at the end and I didn't want to negotiate. I said, 'Nope. We gotta do it."

For his part, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said:

"Maduro is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government. Maduro is the head of the Cartel de Los Soles, a narco-terror organization which has taken possession of a country. And he is under indictment for pushing drugs into the United States."

What comes next is unclear. That this is a bold move by the Trump administration is unquestioned.

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)