From Caracas to custody: Donald Trump shares photo of blindfolded Maduro aboard USS Iwo Jima

President Donald Trump on December 3 posted an image on Truth Social that showed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima, following what Trump described as a covert US military operation that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in Caracas overnight. 

In the image shared by Trump, Maduro is seen wearing a gray Nike sweatsuit and clutching a water bottle. His eyes appear to be covered with a blacked-out mask, while what look like large protective headphones cover his ears. Flores is not visible in the photograph, and it remains unclear whether she was aboard the vessel at the time the image was taken. 

Trump said that Maduro had been flown out of Venezuela and placed aboard the USS Iwo Jima as it moved toward the United States, where the Venezuelan leader would face prosecution on long-standing narco-terrorism charges in New York. 

According to a report by American broadcaster CBS News, Maduro was taken into custody early Saturday by members of Delta Force, the US military’s elite special mission unit. The report cited unnamed US officials but did not disclose operational details surrounding the raid. 

Delta Force — officially known as the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) — is among the most secretive units in the US military. Established in 1977, the unit specialises in counterterrorism, hostage rescue, and high-risk capture or kill missions. It operates under the Joint Special Operations Command and frequently works alongside the CIA. 

The unit previously led the 2019 operation that resulted in the killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Its deployment typically signals missions involving high-value targets. Delta Force recruits experienced soldiers from elite Army formations, including the Rangers and Special Forces, and its missions are rarely acknowledged publicly by the Pentagon. 

Maduro has remained a top adversary of Washington for years. In 2020, a U.S. federal court indicted him on charges related to narco-terrorism, accusing him of collaborating with drug trafficking organisations and using cocaine shipments as a tool against the United States. 

US officials have also accused Maduro of systematically undermining democratic institutions, suppressing political opposition, and aligning Venezuela with American rivals such as Russia, China, and Iran. Years of sanctions and diplomatic pressure failed to dislodge him from power, leading analysts to describe the reported military operation as a dramatic and unprecedented escalation in US policy toward Venezuela.