Former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s public rallies, in which he danced and taunted the United States, in part, motivated President Donald Trump to make good on threats of action.

Members of Trump’s team saw Maduro’s antics as attempts to mock the United States and as signs that he did not take Trump’s threats of action seriously. Maduro believed that Trump’s moves in the Caribbean and pressure to oust Maduro from office were part of a bluff, according to The New York Times.

Maduro’s last chance at a possible offramp came in late December, with an offer from the United States to leave Venezuela and enjoy a lavish exile in Turkey, the Times reported. Maduro rejected the offer, and was soon arrested by U.S. Special Forces and extradited to New York to face trial on drug trafficking charges.

Maduro is expected to appear in a federal court in Manhattan on Monday. The former Venezuelan dictator and his wife are currently being held in a Brooklyn jail.

The United States will keep a close grip on Venezuela’s oil industry and exports, as well as sanctions to maintain leverage on the Venezuelan government. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, has taken over the government as interim president after an order from the Venezuelan supreme court.

Trump administration officials have voiced optimism that Washington can work with Rodríguez after being unimpressed with opposition leader María Corina Machado, according to the Times. U.S. officials held conversations with Machado about being a possible successor prior to Maduro’s arrest, but Machado failed to convince Trump that she had the influence within the regime to stabilize Venezuela after Maduro’s sudden exit.

The operation to take down Maduro was meticulously planned for months, and telegraphed far ahead of time by Trump as the president ordered numerous warships and 15,000 troops deployed off the coast of Venezuela in the lead-up to the operation, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The operation was aborted a couple of times over concerns about the weather. When the operation moved forward early on Saturday morning, Venezuela’s capital of Caracas was rocked by explosions meant to cover the entry and exit of U.S. troops tasked with arresting and extraditing Maduro.

The operation lasted roughly five hours and was completed with no U.S. fatalities. Maduro arrived in New York City late on Saturday.

CBS News anchor Margaret Brennan attempted to set a trap for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding to know why the United States had only moved against Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro while other wanted narco-terrorists were left in power.

Rubio, who made several Sunday morning appearances across multiple media networks, walked Brennan through the strategy behind taking on one mission at a time — all while also pointing out the fact that the media reaction to a broader mission would have been much more dramatic: “Imagine the howls!”

WATCH:

Secretary of State Marco Rubio just took CBS’ Margaret Brennan to the woodshed on live TV over the Maduro raid.

“I don’t know why that’s confusing to you.”

Brennan spiraled over the fact that the operation did not seize EVERY narco terrorist in Venezuela, but Rubio hit her with… pic.twitter.com/6AtPJowG8A

— Overton (@overton_news) January 4, 2026

Referencing Maduro’s arrest on Saturday, Brennan noted that President Donald Trump’s administration had left a number of others — who had also been designated as narco-terrorists — holding power of some sort in the Venezuelan regime.

“The defense minister, who has deep ties to Russia, $15 million price on his head. He is still in place,” Brennan said. “I’m confused. Are they still wanted by the United States? Why didn’t you arrest them if you are taking out the narco terrorist regime?”

“You’re confused? I don’t know why that’s confusing to you. I mean, it’s very simple,” Rubio pushed back, but Brennan interrupted.

“They’re still in power!” she protested.

“You’re not going to go in and … you’re going to go in and suck up five people?” Rubio’s tone was incredulous. “They are already complaining about the one operation! Imagine the howls we would have from everybody else if we actually had to go and stay there four days to capture four other people.”

“We got the top priority,” Rubio continued. “The number one person on the list was the guy who claimed to be the president of the country that he was not, and he was arrested along with his wife who is also indicted.”

“That was a pretty sophisticated and frankly, complicated operation,” Rubio said, and Brennan voiced her agreement as he explained, “It is not easy to land helicopters in the middle of the largest military base in the country. The guy lived on a military base. Land within three minutes, kick down his door, grab him, put him in handcuffs, read him his rights, put him in a helicopter and leave the country without losing any American or any American assets.”

“That’s not an easy mission and you’re asking me why didn’t we do that in five other places at the same time?” Rubio asked. “I mean, that’s absurd!”