UPDATE - US will 'run' Venezuela, says Trump after 'large scale' strike

ADDS MORE REMARKS BY TRUMP, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT STAFF; CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Saturday that Washington would oversee Venezuela's government during an interim period following the capture of the South American nation's President Nicolas Maduro.

"We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," Trump told a news conference in the US state of Florida, flanked by senior Cabinet officials, including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The US wants peace, liberty and justice for the "great people" of Venezuela, he added.

Earlier Saturday, Trump announced that Washington had carried out a "large scale strike" against Venezuela, and that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were "captured and flown out" of the country.

“Late last night and early today, at my direction, the United States Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela (Caracas).

"Overwhelming American military power, air, land, and sea was used to launch a spectacular assault -- and it was an assault like people have not seen since World War II," Trump told the reporters.

Trump said Maduro and his wife were seized during the operation, and would face prosecution in the US judicial system.

"This was one of the most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history," he added.

Trump said Maduro and his wife were on board a US Navy ship, the USS Iwo Jima, and would be heading to New York. Unnamed sources also reportedly told broadcaster ABC News that Maduro was expected to make a stop at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before being transferred to an FBI plane to New York.

"Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil," he said.

Trump said not a single American service member was killed, and not a single piece of American equipment was lost.

- US will be running Venezuela 'with a group'

When asked to clarify the US' plans for Venezuela's governance, Trump said his administration would be running it "with a group."

"We’re going to make sure it’s run properly. We’re going to make sure the people of Venezuela are taken care of and we’re going to make sure the people of Venezuela who were forced out by this thug are taken care of," he added.

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez assumed authority following Maduro’s capture on Saturday. Trump said Secretary of State Rubio had already spoken with her.

"She was sworn in as president just a little while ago. She had a long conversation with Marco, and she said, 'We'll do whatever you need.' I think she was quite gracious, but she really doesn't have a choice," Trump said.

Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided detailed information on the military action, dubbed "Operation Absolute Resolve."

Caine said it was "discreet, precise, and ... the culmination of months of planning and rehearsal — an operation that, frankly, only the United States military could undertake."

In total, he said, more than 150 aircraft, including bombers, fighters, intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, and rotary wing, had been in the air during the operation.

"At 10.46 pm eastern time last night, the president ordered the United States military to move forward with this mission ... He said to us ... 'Good luck, and Godspeed' — and those words were transmitted to the entire joint force," Caine said.

Several US Democratic lawmakers on Saturday slammed the Trump administration’s military strikes on Venezuela, calling them "illegal."

Rubio said they called members of Congress immediately after the operation.

"At its core, this was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice ... it's just not the kind of mission that you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission," he said.