“We Will Run the Country” – President Trump Takes Victory Lap as Nicolas Maduro Arrives in SDNY

“We Will Run the Country” – President Trump Takes Victory Lap as Nicolas Maduro Arrives in SDNY   The United States conducted large-scale military strikes on Venezuela in the early morning hours of January 3, 2026, particularly around Caracas targeting Caracas and other locations. The operation, codenamed “Operation Absolute Resolve,” involved over 150 US aircraft, airstrikes on military installations (e.g., La Carlota airbase, Fuerte Tiuna), and ground raids in Caracas and nearby areas like Miranda, Aragua, and La Guaira. Explosions were reported around 2 a.m. local time. Casualty estimates vary, with many reports citing anonymous Venezuelan and Cuban sources. No US fatalities have been reported. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by US forces and transported to the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) custody to face federal charges, including Maduro Narco-terrorism conspiracy, Cocaine importation conspiracy, and additional counts per the superseding indictment. President Trump asserted US control or oversight of Venezuela’s immediate future and signaled possible further actions. “We built Venezuela’s oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us… Venezuela unilaterally seized and sold American oil, American assets and American platforms, costing us billions and billions of dollars.” “We are going to run the country.” “We’re going to have our very large US oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.” Badlands Media covered the President’s press conference on the attack here. Mexico and numerous other countries condemned the US action as a violation of the UN Charter and international law. View a Grok translation of that letter from Spanish here. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was named acting president by Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice, though her legitimacy is disputed. GhostofBasedPatrickHenry: Let me start by saying that I have long believed that we would see the extraction and “arrest” of President Maduro by the US military. Here I am on October 7th predicting as much, right down to Maduro willfully surrendering. So nothing about this development is a total surprise, nor does it contradict any of my speculation that Nicolas Maduro is working in cooperation with President Trump. In fact, when I read that Maduro’s wife was also “arrested” (extracted) by US Special Forces and indicted as a narco-terrorist, it all but affirmed the theory that we are witnessing a cooperating witness/informant being brought into protective custody — not the toppling of a foreign ruthless dictator. Have you ever heard the media talk about Putin’s wife? Xi’s wife? Assad? How about the Ayatollah? Did Netanyahu’s wife get charged as a war criminal by the ICC? Or any of the wives of his cabinet members who were charged? Does history ever mention Stalin’s wife, Hitler’s wife, or Mao’s wife? Of course not, because the wives of world leaders are never held accountable for the actions of the sovereign executive. Then we get to the actual narrative surrounding the arrest of Maduro. First off, the CIA apparently leaked the details of the operation to the New York Times and Washington Post so they could have the articles written and ready for publication. Weird. It all begins with President Trump posting an image of Maduro in handcuffs, with eyes and ears bound. One of the first clips of Maduro in custody to emerge showed him wearing what looks like a Mickey Mouse hat from Disney World. As he is escorted through a corridor, he politely says “goodnight,” and then, “Happy New Year.” Pop Base @PopBase Nicolas Maduro arriving to the DEA offices in New York: “Happy new year” 2:11 AM · Jan 4, 2026 · 3.91M Views 419 Replies · 1.1K Reposts · 23.9K Likes What a monster. Another image emerges of a seated Maduro giving two thumbs up while surrounded by DEA agents who are also posing for the photo. It compelled me to make this AI image. We then get another video of a convoy of military vehicles moving through New York City. The van that is carrying Maduro is driving with its doors open, showcasing the prize as if he were on parade. Lord Bebo @MyLordBebo Trump parades Maduro through New York with open doors in a van! Man that is getting weird 5:04 PM · Jan 4, 2026 · 7M Views 3.53K Replies · 9.25K Reposts · 67.5K Likes We should probably make note of the fact that Maduro has apparently made multiple wardrobe changes throughout this journey, which is quite strange. While we have joked for months about Maduro’s epic dance moves, The New York Times has officially reported that it was this dancing that ultimately provoked Trump into taking unprecedented military action against Venezuela. Interestingly enough, President Trump dismissed the notion that the Deep State’s preferred replacement, Maria Corona Machado, would become the leader of Venezuela. President Trump said that the people of Venezuela do not respect or support her. Disclose.tv @disclosetv NOW - Trump says he thinks it would "be very tough" for Maria Machado, to be Venezuela's leader as she lacks the support or respect within the country and says the U.S. is "going to take back the oil that, frankly, we should have taken back a long time ago." 5:54 PM · Jan 3, 2026 · 304K Views 118 Replies · 321 Reposts · 2.63K Likes Brutal. There was then widespread speculation about who would be taking over as leader, until President Trump clarified that President Maduro had appointed Vice President Delcy Rodriguez as Acting President, and Trump said he would be honoring the appointment. (Because that’s what one does when arresting a ruthless narco-terrorist dictator.) However, Trump threatened Rodriguez, saying that if she didn’t give the US “total access” to rebuild the infrastructure and oil operations — which Trump said the oil companies would be paying for — then she would be facing serious consequences. “If she doesn’t do what’s right, she will pay a very big price — probably even bigger than Maduro.” (Trump-a-Mania, brother.) Notable that Rodriguez’s initial statement on the Maduro arrest was to blame the Zionists for trying to enslave Venezuela. She then goes on to say that there is only one president of Venezuela, and it is still Nicolas Maduro. I do think that this was a negotiated surrender between Maduro and Trump, not because Maduro is some ruthless dictator, but because Maduro is actually a cooperating witness who needs to be protected. I also think that Trump’s claims of the oil companies paying to rebuild the infrastructure of Venezuela could be reparations that are legitimately owed related to the lawsuits that were filed back in 2018 against dozens of the world’s most powerful oil executives, accusing them all of corruption and stealing Venezuela’s wealth. The lawsuit was filed by the Venezuelan oil company, PDVSA. Obviously, this story still has plenty of plot lines to develop. I do think that all of the research and speculation we have presented here in the Brief is not only still in play, but also serves as the best explanation for the bizarre events we are now witnessing... P.S. Shout out to Jordan Sather for making this meme. [Clip Link 1, Clip Link 4] *** Burning Bright: “How you define ‘cartel’ probably informs your overall outlook on the operation.” Two months ago, I said the Narrative was being prepped for Maduro’s ‘managed’ exit, to be facilitated by Donald Trump and the Sovereign Alliance: BurningBright @reBurningBright On Venezuela, Syria and Sovereign Pincers ... Getting pretty tense out there, isn't it? But for whom? Often, what looks like escalating conflict turns out to be a structured series of moves designed to shift the balance toward sovereignty. Of course, that's if you're 6:36 PM · Nov 14, 2025 · 13.4K Views 10 Replies · 57 Reposts · 164 Likes And I wasn’t the only one (at Badlands). For months, we’ve been saying Maduro was going to be granted a narrative exit from the Cartel theater in keeping with the Assad Template. China and Russia will posture, but this is Sovereign Alliance action. Now, let’s see if he ends up with a ‘negotiated’ asylum in Moscow… lol The reports are already saying Maduro’s exit was negotiated and that his VP is in Moscow. This is the Narrative translation of the Sovereign Alliance v the Globalist Cartel. *** Chris Paul: If it’s a movie and things are in full control, then what are people cheering? It’s like leaving the new James Bond movie and heading to the streets to sincerely celebrate him defeating the enemy and saving the world. And there are (supposedly) hardcore truthers that do this daily. No war. Isn’t that what Maduro kept saying? Weird. *** Jon Herold: The best possible ending to this story will be Trump giving himself the $50M bounty for capturing Maduro.