President Donald Trump said the U.S. is going to temporarily take over governing Venezuela after launching a large-scale surprise attack on the country overnight.
"We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump said in a press conference Saturday morning from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The Venezuela operation "was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military," Trump said.
"Not a single American service member was killed, and not a single piece of American equipment was lost, many helicopters, many planes, many people involved in that fight," Trump also said.
U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The couple have been indicted in the Southern District of New York on drug-trafficking charges.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, said the mission involved "more than 150 aircraft launching across the western hemisphere in political coordination, all coming together in time and place to layer effects for a single purpose, to get an interdiction force into downtown Caracas, while maintaining the element of tactical surprise."
Trump said the U.S. would be in charge of Venezuela until there is a safe transition of leadership. He also said the U.S. would be running the country "with a group" and "designating various people," without providing details.
According to Trump, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as president and had been in contact with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"She's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again," Trump said. Rubio added that Congress was not briefed ahead of the operation.
In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the decision to launch military action in Venezuela without congressional authorization was "reckless."
"The idea that Trump plans to now run Venezuela should strike fear in the hearts of all Americans," Schumer said. "The American people have seen this before and paid the devastating price."
Mary Ellen O'Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who specializes in international law and conflict resolution, likened the operation to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"President Trump is right to take action against illicit drugs, but his actions in Venezuela are not the ones proven to succeed," she said.
"Successful economies require strong, independent courts, fair systems of criminal justice, and respect for law," O'Connell said. "Trump's actions defy these basic components. The best prediction now is that chaos will follow in Venezuela as it did in Iraq."
