U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet on Friday with special forces troops who carried out the raid that captured Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan leader taken into United States custody earlier this year.
The White House said Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will travel to Fort Bragg in North Carolina to greet the soldiers and their families. The visit comes as Trump highlights the mission as a signature achievement of his administration.
The January operation, dubbed Operation Absolute Resolve, involved U.S. special operations forces seizing Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from a compound in Caracas after strikes on Venezuelan military targets, according to U.S. officials. Maduro was subsequently flown to New York to face drug trafficking and related charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The assault, which Venezuelan authorities said left dozens of people dead and wounded, marked an unprecedented U.S. military action in Latin America that has drawn international attention and controversy. No U.S. service members were reported killed in the operation.
Trump has publicly praised the mission as proof of American military capability, framing the capture as a blow against narcotics trafficking and a demonstration of U.S. determination in the hemisphere.
The Fort Bragg event is expected to reinforce support among military families and underscore the administration’s narrative of strength abroad as Trump campaigns ahead of upcoming political contests.
Maduro’s next scheduled court hearing in New York is set for March 17 before a federal judge.
