The top diplomat addressed a press conference on Saturday to discuss the details of the U.S. military capture of Maduro and his wife, “first combatant” Cilia Flores, on multiple criminal charges in the United States. The U.S. government had maintained a $50 million bounty for information leading to Maduro’s capture throughout 2025 following the return of President Trump to the White House. Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed following the announcement of Maduro’s capture that he is facing charges including “Narco-Terrorism Conspiracy, Cocaine Importation Conspiracy, Possession of Machineguns and Destructive Devices, and Conspiracy to Possess Machineguns and Destructive Devices against the United States.”
According to law enforcement authorities in America and throughout the Western Hemisphere, Maduro served as the head of the Cartel de los Soles, a multi-continental cocaine trafficking operation. Maduro is also believed to have close ties to the Tren de Aragua terrorist gang and has offered support to state sponsors of terrorism Iran and Cuba as well as jihadist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
“He is not the legitimate president of Venezuela,” Rubio reiterated on Saturday, emphasizing that neither the Trump administration nor that of former President Joe Biden recognized him as a legitimate president. Maduro succeeded late dictator Hugo Chávez and perpetuated himself in power through various sham elections, including most recently an election in 2024 that opposition leader María Corina Machado proved, through local vote tallies, that opposition candidate Edmundo González won.
Rubio emphasized that the U.S. government sought to find a less aggressive way to resolve the unsustainable situation in Venezuela, but Maduro did not cooperate. He also appeared to confirm that no one around Maduro aided in his capture, stating, “I guess we just saved $50 million.”
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“Nicolás Maduro had multiple opportunities to avoid this,” Rubio explained. “He was provided multiple very, very, very generous offers and he chose instead to act like a wild man, chose instead to play around, and the result is what we saw tonight.”
“You have a guy… who decides he’s going to invite Iran into his country, he’s going to do the confiscation of American oil companies, he’s going to flood our country with gang members,” Rubio continued, “is going to take Americans prisoner and try to hold them for hostage and trade them like he was able to do with the Biden administration… and thinks nothing’s going to happen.”
“I hope what people now understand that… the 47th president of the United States is not a game player,” Rubio emphasized. “This is a president of action. I don’t understand yet how they haven’t figured this out — and now, if you don’t know, now you know.”
Rubio added that Trump was not actively seeking conflict, but addressing the systematic criminality and the growing national security threat that Maduro presented. Elsewhere in the press conference, Rubio also noted that a significant problem the Venezuelan people will now have to address is Maduro’s close relationship to state sponsor of terrorism Cuba.
“One of the biggest problems Venezuela has is they have to declare independence from Cuba,” he observed, adding that, if he were a Communist Party official in Havana, “I’d be concerned.” Rubio’s comments are notable given his status as the first member of the Cuban-American exile community to hold the secretary of state position, and as someone routinely disparaged by the Communist Party.
President Trump explained that, following Maduro’s capture, his vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, would be running the country temporarily. She reportedly spoke to Rubio extensively on Saturday and appeared conciliatory and “gracious.” Trump explained that America would help “run” Venezuela until a democratic leader could assume leadership.
Maduro and Flores are reportedly en route to New York City to be processed in an American court of law.
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