By Kevin Liptak, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Zachary Cohen, Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes, CNN

(CNN) — It was just like watching television.

Huddled in a draped-off room at Mar-a-Lago around screens set up for his viewing pleasure — including, according to photos released by the White House, a live feed of social media messages on X — President Donald Trump watched and listened as highly trained American Delta Force soldiers rushed into Nicolás Maduro’s home in Caracas, where the Venezuelan leader was sleeping alongside his wife.

Maduro was quickly dragged into custody as he tried to flee to his steel-enforced safe room.

It was the dramatic culmination of a monthslong campaign whose ultimate goal has long been clear to those involved in its planning: to oust Maduro from power. Trump, who at points along the way voiced misgivings about the potential for unintended consequences and the chances the US could be drawn into a prolonged war, put aside any reservations and gave a green light to the operation in the days before Christmas.

It wasn’t until more than a week later that the weather cleared and conditions were right for the heavily-guarded mission. At 10:46 p.m. ET, after making a shopping excursion for marble and onyx and enjoying dinner on the Mar-a-Lago patio, the president gave the final go-ahead.

“Good luck,” Trump told the assemblage of national security officials who had convened at his gilded private club in South Florida, “and Godspeed.”

American helicopters were soon gliding across the sea, 100 feet above the dark water, toward Caracas. A couple of hours later, Maduro was in US custody, handcuffed, dressed in gray sweatpants and wearing blackout goggles, according to a picture Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday morning.

Trump emerged Saturday to declare the United States would now “run” the country for an indeterminate future, offering strikingly little detail and claiming he wasn’t afraid of “boots on the ground.”

For a president whose political movement was fueled, in part, by resentments over two decades of bloody American foreign intervention, it was a remarkable turnabout. The president mostly glossed over the work that may lie ahead, focusing instead on obtaining access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and repeatedly declining to rule out a more robust US military presence if Maduro’s allies refuse to cede power.

In the hours after the strike, sources around Washington, including congressional staffers and allies of the president, privately voiced concerns about the long-term consequences of the action — both in terms of US national security and the potential political fallout for a president with low-approval ratings whose base has shown little appetite for American intervention abroad.

A strike months in the making

At Trump’s side this week in Florida have been the chief architects of the escalating pressure campaign on Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and senior adviser Stephen Miller, who were seen at dinner with the president hours before the operation began. They joined him again as he proclaimed victory on Saturday.

Preparations for the raid began in mid-December, people familiar with the plans told CNN. But the vision had been planted months earlier. Even before the first US military strike on an Read more

By Allegra Goodwin, Isaac Yee, Avery Schmitz, Thomas Bordeaux, CNN

(CNN) — A dramatic new phase of President Donald Trump’s showdown with Venezuela started Saturday, when the United States launched a large-scale series of strikes – followed hours later by Trump’s announcement that Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro had been captured by US forces, and removed from the country.

Here’s what we can say about the daring raid, dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve by US authorities, using verified video and images from the scene, satellite imagery, and other open-source information.

Although planning for the attacks had been secretly underway since December, speaking at a Saturday news conference from his Mar-a-Lago club, Trump said Saturday that he made the final decision to strike at 11:46 p.m. Venezuela time (10:46 p.m. ET) the previous day.

Reports of loud explosions and low-flying aircraft in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas began pouring in just before 2 a.m. local time, with a video showing multiple blasts and fires emanating from the area of the Fort Tiuna military installation captured at 1:58 a.m., according to metadata. A local resident, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told CNN explosions continued until around 3 a.m.

CNN verified strikes around the same time on at least seven key infrastructure sites, including La Guaira port, which is less than 10 miles north of central Caracas, and the city’s Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base, widely known as La Carlota airport.

Other targets included the country’s national astronomical and meteorological observatory in the capital, as well as a communications antenna installation just south of Caracas, which was seen burning in footage geolocated by CNN.

At a second airport in Higuerote, about 52 miles east of the capital, dramatic footage verified by CNN showed a large blaze and explosions which began shortly before 2 a.m., according to an eyewitness. Multiple balls of fire could be seen arcing through the sky in the video, consistent with munitions, such as those used by air defense systems, burning.

A resident of Higuerote, a coastal town, told CNN he woke up to what he initially thought were fireworks, before more blasts echoed across the area and the sky turned suddenly red.

“This was the moment I realized it was something more serious,” said the 23-year-old, who asked not to be identified for security reasons. “My neighbors started screaming and running through the street, so I went outside and saw this giant wall of smoke.”

“It went silent for about 20 minutes and then we could hear planes again, then two more explosions,” he added. “Everything was shaking after that.”

As blasts reverberated through Caracas and the surrounding cities, a separate mission to seize Venezuelan leader Maduro was also underway, according to Trump, speaking at a Saturday news conference from his Mar-a-Lago club.

The president said US military helicopters touched down at 2:01 a.m. local time, as Maduro attempted to enter a steel shelter but was unable to close the door before he was detained by US forces. In one video verified by CNN, helicopters are seen moving toward the Fort Tiuna area.

US forces were “over the water” and out of Venezuela by 4:29 a.m. local time with “indicted persons aboard,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said. Speaking earlier on Saturday to Fox News, Trump said he watched the capture in real time, “like a television show.”

Trump publicly announced the operation at 4:21 a.m. Venezuela time in a post on Truth Social, saying Maduro had been captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores. They were dragged from their bedroom by elite US forces during the raid, sources told CNN.

An image Trump shared on Truth Social later Saturday showed Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima warship, according to the US presiden

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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – Highway 192 is closed in both directions between Mission Canyon Road and Mountain Drive just above the foothills in Santa Barbara, according to CalTrans.

There is no estimate on reopening the highway, adding to closures on Highway 101 today due to rainy road conditions, according to CalTrans.

For more updates on road conditions, visit the CalTrans website.

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