Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in a New York jail Saturday, hours after American special forces seized him, while Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, whom US President Donald Trump has indicated he could work with, claimed the operation had a “Zionist tint.”

Maduro’s jailing followed a lightning predawn attack in which US commandos grabbed the Venezuelan president and his wife while airstrikes pounded sites in and around Caracas.

A US government plane carrying Maduro landed at a military base shortly after nightfall, and he was transported by helicopter to New York City, where the couple were to be arraigned on drug trafficking and weapons charges.

The White House posted a video on X of Maduro, handcuffed and in sandals, escorted by federal agents through a US Drug Enforcement Administration facility in New York.

“Good night, happy new year,” the 63-year-old leftist is heard saying in English.

The Trump administration captioned the video “perp walked.”

Perp walked.pic.twitter.com/34iIsFUDdG

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 4, 2026

Despite the success of the risky raid, what happens next is highly uncertain.

Trump said he was “designating people” from his cabinet to be in charge in Venezuela but gave no further details.

In another surprise, Trump indicated US troops could be deployed, saying Washington is “not afraid of boots on the ground.”

One aspect that became clearer was Trump’s interest in Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.”

Trump has indicated US involvement is likely for the long haul.

“We’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” he said.

But Trump........

© The Times of Israel