Sunday 04 / January / 2026
London: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Saturday confirmed that the UK was not involved in the US military operation in Venezuela, which led to the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.
In a post in X, the UK PM emphasised that his priority is ensuring the safety of approximately 500 British nationals in Venezuela, with the embassy in Caracas providing support.
He said, "It's obviously a fast-moving situation. We need to establish all the facts. I can confirm that the UK was not involved in this operation. As you expect, we're focusing on British nationals in Venezuela and working very closely with our embassy. I want to speak with the President and allies, but for now, I think we need to establish the facts. I think President Trump is doing a press conference later, so hopefully more information will come out then."
On asked a question in the video, whether the UK will condemn the action, he said, "Well, I want to establish the facts first. I would like to speak with President Trump. I want to speak to allies, as I say, I can be absolutely clear that we were not involved in that. And as you know, I always say and believe we should all uphold international law. But, I think at this stage, a fast-moving situation, let's establish the facts, and take it from there."
For the current British nationals in Venezuela, he said, "Yeah, there's about 500 there in Venezuela, and we are working with the embassy to make sure that they are well looked after, safeguarded and get appropriate advice. We are working in sync with the embassy on that. It is a small number, but it is important. It's about 500, and that's what we are doing here."
Noting that the United States' action in Venezuela was "one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history", President Donald Trump said on Saturday that no nation in the world could achieve what America achieved.
Regarding the attack, he said he would have to speak with President Trump and his allies first. But he claimed that the UK was not involved in the current ongoing situation and the country always upholds international law.
On an official X post, he said, "The situation in Venezuela is fast-moving. We will establish all the facts and speak to allies. Our embassy in Caracas is working to ensure all British nationals in Venezuela are supported."
The United States captured Venezuela's incumbent President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the military operation, and they were flown out of the country.
Trump, who addressed a press conference from Palm Beach, Florida, said the United States will run the country "until we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition".
He said the US action was aimed at bringing "outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice".
"Late last night and early today, at my direction, the United States Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. Overwhelming American military power, air, land, and sea, was used to launch a spectacular assault. It was an assault like people have not seen since World War II. It was a force against a heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas to bring outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice. This was one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history," he said.
Trump said US companies will fix the broken oil infrastructure in Venezuela.
"As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust, a total bust for a long period of time. They were pumping almost nothing compared with what they could have been pumping and what could have taken place. We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country."
The US President said his administration wants "peace, justice and liberty for the great people of Venezuela".
"We're going to run the country until we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. We want peace, justice, and liberty for the people of Venezuela. We can't take a chance if somebody else takes over Venezuela, who doesn't have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind. We're not going to let that happen. We are there now, but we will remain until a proper transition is complete. We're going to run it essentially until such time," he said.
Trump said Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York for their campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens.
"No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday... all Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military, working with U.S. law enforcement, successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night along with his wife, Cilia Flores, both of whom now face American justice. Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York for their campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens".
Earlier, the US President released the first photo of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro aboard the US Warship Iwo Jima.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, US President Trump said, "Nicolas Maduro on board the USS Iwo Jima."
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115832088990838303
The "capture of Maduro" comes amid an increase in tensions between the United States and Venezuela.
