China ‘deeply shocked’ as US attacks Venezuela, captures Nicolas Maduro
Last Updated on January 3, 2026 11:26 pm
US military strikes hit Venezuela’s capital before dawn on Saturday, shaking Caracas as US President Donald Trump reported that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country by US forces.
The attack followed months of US sabre rattling and Chinese warnings over growing US military and economic pressure on its oil-producing ally. It also came hours after Maduro met China’s special representative on Latin American affairs, Qiu Xiaoqi, in Caracas.
“I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show,” Trump told Fox News, detailing how he followed in real time as US special forces captured Maduro. “And if you would have seen the speed, the violence.”
An image on Trump’s social media feed showed Maduro aboard a US amphibious assault vessel dressed in what appeared to be a grey sweatsuit, his eyes and ears blocked, holding a bottle of water.
Trump said that the US is going to be “very strongly involved” in Venezuela’s oil industry.
“We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and we’re going to be very much involved in it,” he said.