Once on the ground, troops from the US Army’s Delta Force, an elite special forces unit, moved quickly.
They gained access to the compound at 02:01 local time, and the Maduros “gave up” without a struggle, Gen Caine said.
But Trump gave more details. The Maduros tried to escape into a safe place, the US president explained, describing it as a military “fortress”.
“The safe place is all steel, and he wasn’t able to make it to the door because our guys were so fast.
“It was a very thick door, a very heavy door,” Trump told reporters. “He made it to the door. He was unable to close it.”
But even if they had managed to get into the safe room, Trump said troops could have blown it open in about “47 seconds”.