Armed police officers stand in front of the Metropolitan Detention facility in the Brooklyn borough of New York, where ousted president Nicolás Maduro is expected to be held, on January 3, 2026 in New York City.
John Lamparski / AFP
Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is being held in a Brooklyn prison until prosecutors decide where he would face trial.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, captured by U.S. forces on Saturday, January 3rd, is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, various news agencies reported on Saturday night. The deposed leader was flown to New York by helicopter and then transferred to the prison, and is expected to stand before a court on Monday.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Supreme Court late on Saturday ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to become the country’s interim leader.
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, President Trump said the U.S. would run Venezuela until “such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” The president did not rule out deploying troops to the Latin American country. He later added “We’re going to have [a] presence in Venezuela as it pertains to oil.”
Speaking of a U.S. national prerogative in the hemisphere, Trump said he had one-upped the Monroe Doctrine, saying “They now call it the Don-roe doctrine.”
Trump also said Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado did not have the support or respect necessary within Venezuela to become its leader. He shared that Secretary Rubio had spoken to Maduro’s VP, Delcy Rodríguez, stating: “She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” said Trump.
The president also indicated that prosecutors will decide whether Maduro, whom he called an “illegitimate dictator” and the “kingpin of a vast criminal network,” would be tried in New York or in Miami.
