The United States captured Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, over the weekend in a swift and overwhelming military operation. Mr. Maduro was pictured blindfolded, handcuffed and later brought to New York to face criminal charges.

Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times, tells the story of how the operation unfolded, and discusses what comes next.

Guest: Eric Schmitt, a national security correspondent for The New York Times based in Washington.

Background reading:

President Trump said at a news conference that the United States would “run” Venezuela.
Inside “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the U.S. effort to capture Mr. Maduro.
See maps, videos and photos of how the capture unfolded.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

The best AI-powered dictation apps of 2025

TechCrunch Daily Crunch

Aqua's speed and autofill features

The AI-powered Podcast Player