Trump news at a glance: outcry and questions after US attack on Venezuela

Key Highlights

• The president hailed an overnight operation that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as “an assault like people have not seen since world war two”. But the dramatic intervention was condemned by Democrats on Capitol Hill and several leaders around the world as the most dangerous example of US imperialism since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Read the full story‘It sends a horrible signal’: US politicians react to Maduro’s captureReaction to the capture of Nicolás Maduro by US forces has been starkly polarized along political lines, with administration officials and Republicans celebrating the enforcement of a 2020 US narco-trafficking indictment against Maduro and Democrats decrying what they see as a violation of Venezuela’s right to self-determination. Read the full storyUS oil giants silent on Trump claim they will spend billions on Venezuelan oil industryUS oil giants have so far remained silent on Donald Trump’s claim that they are primed to spend “billions and billions of dollars” rebuilding the Venezuelan oil industry after the ouster of Nicolás Maduro​. Read the full storyGlobal outcry after US launches strikes on VenezuelaThe US has been condemned for breaking international law after it launched airstrikes on Caracas and captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
• France, Russia, China and the European Commission were among those who said Donald Trump had broken international rules after US troops carried out the operation on Saturday morning. Read the full storyExplainer: Is there legal justification for US’s Venezuela attack?The legality of the operation has been called into question – with even some of Donald Trump’s allies suggesting it violated international law.
• The Guardian spoke to leading experts in the field of international law to ask for their view on the unfolding events in Venezuela. Read the full storyAnalysis: The ‘Putinization’ of US foreign policy arrives in VenezuelaHardly anyone expected 2026 to be a year of peace, and it was barely two days old when the worst fears were confirmed. The overnight strikes on Venezuela, the abduction of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and Donald Trump’s declaration that the US would “run” the country and sell its oil, have driven another truck through international law and global norms.
• But that is not even the most concerning thing about it, Julian Borger writes in an analysis for the Guardian. Read the full analysisWhat else happened today: Over two decades, Jeffrey Epstein avoided serious and meaningful punishment for his crimes.
• Why wasn’t he stopped earlier?