What did Donald Trump say in his news conference about Nicolás Maduro?

In a remarkable series of events, Donald Trump ordered the bombing of various regions across Venezuela and the capture of its leader, Nicolas Maduró, in the largest-scale North American attack on a South American nation in continental history.

Video footage showed what appeared to be American chinook helicopters flying overhead, as well as videos that appeared to show explosions in various military sights across the nation.

The American president took to social media shortly after the events unfolded, saying that the US had “captured” Maduro and his wife and taken them out of the country.

Later in the day, Trump stood in front of the world’s media at Mar-a-Lago to provide an update. Here’s what he said:

Donald Trump addresses the media at Mar-a-Lago after Venezuela attack

“It was one of most stunning effective and powerful displays of US military might in history."

Trump compared it to Operation Midnight Hammer, the recent attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. He said “no other nation” could achieve what the US did, saying that they “successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night, the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise we have. It was dark, it was deadly.”

“He was captured along with his wife, both of whim now face American justice, they have been indicted in the southern district of New York”

Trump thanked the military for their “breathtaking speed, power, precision and confidence.”

He said the US were “respected like never before”, while saying this is “not like the Jimmy Carter days”.

Despite Venezuela being in what he called “the ready position”, they did not stand up to “the best equipment in the world” from the US military.

“I’m not sure you’ll ever get to see it”, he said, referring to the footage of the assault that involved “many people.”

“Each boat kills on average 25,000 people, we knocked out 97% [of them].

“We are going to run the country until such time as we can carry out a safe, proper and judicious transition. We are going to run the country. It has to be judicious. That is what we are all about.

“We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela, including the many people from Venezuela living in the US who want to go back. We cannot take a chance that someone takes over who does not have the good of the people of Venezuela in mind. We have had decades of that and we are not going to let it happen again.

“We are there now, and we are going to stay until a proper transition can take place. We are going to run it essentially until a proper transition can take place.

“The oil business in Venezuela has been a bust for a long period of time. They were pumping almost nothing compared to what they could have. We are going to have our very large oil companies go in, spend billions, fix the oil infrastructure and start making money for the country.

“We are ready to stage a much larger attack if needed. We are prepared to do a second wave. We assumed it would be necessary, but it is probably not. The strike was pinpoint, but we have a much bigger wave that we will not have to do.

“This partnership will make the people of Venezuela rich and safe. So much was taken from them. The illegitimate government was responsible for trafficking drugs into the US. He personally oversaw the cartel that flooded our nation with lethal poison, responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.

“He and his wife will stand trial on US soil. Right now, they are on a ship heading to New York, and a decision will be made between New York and Florida.

Trump concluded his diatribe on Venezuela and then began a seemingly unscripted rant about crime in the United States.

“Now Maduro will never be able to threaten an American citizen. For years I highlighted the stories of those lives who were robbed by this guy.

He then appeared not to go back to the script, rambling about “insane asylums” and “billions of dollars” being lost to Venezuela.

“In concluding,” he said, inventing a phrase, “we are reasserting American power in a very powerful way in our home region. We had great dominance in our first term and we have even greater dominance now.”

“We will crash the cartels and defend all our citizens against all threats, foreign and domestic, and this operation should serve as a warning

“The embargo on Venezuelan oil remains in full effect, and the US retains all military options until US demands have been met and satisfied. All political figures in Venezuela should understand that what happened to Nicolás Maduro will happen to them if they aren’t fair and just. The people are free again, and America is a safer nation this morning and a prouder nation. The western hemisphere is a much safer place to be.”

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