Mr. Trump gave final approval of the mission to capture Maduro Friday at 10:46 p.m. ET, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine told reporters Saturday during the president’s news conference at Mar-a-Lago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Throughout the night, aircraft launched from 20 bases across the Western Hemisphere toward Venezuela. Caine said the mission, named Operation Absolute Resolve, involved more than 150 aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“As the night began, the helicopters took off with the extraction force, which included law enforcement officers, and began their flight into Venezuela at 100 feet above the water,” Caine said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the helicopters approached shore, they were protected by other aircraft, including drones, bombers and fighter jets. The U.S. dismantled and disabled Venezuela’s air defense systems as the helicopters neared Caracas, according to Caine, who also said they deployed weapons “to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump said the lights in Caracas had largely gone dark “due to a certain experience that we have.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
“As the force crossed the last point of high terrain where they’d been hiding in the clutter, we assessed that we had maintained totally the element of surprise,” Caine said.<\/p>\n
Once at the compound, the helicopters came under fire but remained operable, Caine said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S. forces and the FBI eventually entered the compound, where Maduro and his wife “gave up” and were taken into custody, Caine said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump said that Maduro tried to escape during his capture.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“He was trying to get into a safe place,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “The safe place is all steel, and he wasn’t able to make it to the door because our guys were so fast.”\u00a0<\/p>\n