Name: U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela
Uploaded: 2026-01-03T09:33:43.863Z
Duration: 4 min 26 s
Description: President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities, as the administration early Saturday ratcheted up its campaign against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities, as the administration early Saturday ratcheted up its campaign against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Caracas

The U.S has launched strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities in a campaign against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. 

Venezuela Strikes

The United States has launched airstrikes on military facilities in Caracas, Venezuela, marking the first such attack inside the country. The strikes, ordered by President Trump, targeted sites associated with the government of President Nicolas Maduro, whom the U.S. accuses of authoritarianism and alleged ties to drug cartels.

The operation comes after months of increased military presence and economic pressure on Venezuela, and occurred just hours after Maduro expressed openness to negotiations with the U.S. Officials indicate that the mission had been planned for days, with the timing adjusted due to other military priorities. The White House has not disclosed its long-term strategy for Venezuela, and lawmakers continue to seek clarity on the administration's objectives.

U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela

This is a CBS News special report. I'm Carissa Lawson in New York. The United States just attacked Venezuela's capital, hitting military facilities in the country. President Trump ordered this operation. There were multiple explosions in Caracas, starting at around 2 a.m. local time. You can see the video here coming in. It shows low-flying aircraft in the city. This is the first U.S. military attack within the country. President Trump is targeting the South American nation over its authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his alleged ties to drug cartels. It follows months of military buildup in the region. The strikes come just hours after Maduro had said he was open to negotiations with the U.S. Let's go right to CBS News correspondent, Natalie Brand. She's traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida. And Natalie, what are we hearing from the Trump administration right now? Well, as of this hour, sources are telling CBS News that Trump administration officials are aware of these reports of explosions and aircraft. No immediate response from the White House, but we've also learned, per U.S. officials, that President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela, including military facilities. This, of course, comes as the administration has escalated its campaign against the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which the U.S. administration views as illegitimate. So right now, as you've seen on some initial video coming in, which we are still working to gather and confirm, several explosions were heard around 2 a.m. local time, Saturday overnight, in Venezuela's capital city, Caracas. People seen kind of rushing to the streets. And again, this is something that the president himself had said was a possibility out loud, talking about potential land strikes. CBS News has also learned from sources that the president gave the U.S. military the green light to conduct land strikes in Venezuela days before the actual operation, waiting for conditions to be right there. Sources also say that military officials were even going to conduct the mission on Christmas, but U.S. airstrikes in Nigeria, as you may remember, against ISIS targets took precedence that day, according to the sources. So again, we are still working to confirm the latest, but of course, as you know, this comes on top of months of a pressure campaign, which started back in September with those initial strikes that we saw on alleged drug boats off the coast of Venezuela, that has expanded now to a massive military buildup around Venezuela, a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers, you know, a pressure campaign that's both military and also economic pressure. As you said, this has been a slow and steady escalation. What is the president's goal in Venezuela at this time? You know, he's been careful not to completely disclose that when asked directly by reporters. You know, he won't talk about regime change, even though that's what a lot of lawmakers over on Capitol Hill say that they believe all signs point to but President Trump's in interviews with reporters, including CBS News' own Norah O'Donnell has said that he believes that Maduro's days as president are numbered. As a big question, of course, is what would happen next? And that's where even allies of the president on Capitol Hill after they received briefings on Venezuela operations, they said that they had more questions for administration officials about the real strategy here and the end game. Natalie Brand, thank you for those details on what's happening in Venezuela.

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U.S. launches military strikes on Venezuela

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