Maduro and wife held on U.S. warship, Trump warns loyalists [View all]

Source: Trinidad Express

Jan 3, 2026 Updated 16 mins ago


U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro attempted to negotiate in the final days before U.S. forces captured him, but Trump refused the offer. “I didn’t want to negotiate,” the American president told Fox News. “I said, ‘Nope, we got to do it.’”

Trump confirmed that Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken aboard the USS Iwo Jima, one of several U.S. warships deployed in the Caribbean. Survivors from prior U.S. strikes on Venezuelan vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking were also brought aboard the ship. Trump suggested that other Venezuelan officials who remain loyal to Maduro could face further U.S. action. “If they stay loyal, the future is really bad, really bad for them,” he said. “I’d say most of them have converted.”

The USS Iwo Jima is the lead ship of her class, the first amphibious assault ship designed from the keel up as a dedicated helicopter carrier. She typically carries helicopters and U.S. Marine Corps elements to conduct heliborne operations in support of amphibious missions.

Just days before his capture, Maduro had publicly stated his willingness to negotiate with the United States. In a pre-taped interview aired on Venezuelan state television, he told Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet that Venezuela was “ready” to discuss a drug-trafficking agreement and called for serious discussions “with data in hand.”

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