‘One of the best displays of US power,’ says Trump; took months of planning and rehearsal, adds Caine

President Donald Trump on Saturday (Jan 03) hailed the US army for successfully conducting military strikes inside Venezuela and the mission to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, describing it as a spectacular display of American military, one that people haven't seen before. He termed the operation as one of the best displays of US power in American history and added that no country in the world could achieve what the American armed forces achieved yesterday.

Speaking from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, standing alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hogsett, Trump said, “At my direction, the United States Armed Forces conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela.”

Trump Further said not a single American service member was killed, and no equipment was lost, adding that the United States is prepared for a second wave of attack if required "We were prepared for a second wave, but probably it won't be required."

Months of planning

Giving details on the operation, Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the US military operation to extract Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a nighttime raid in Caracas took “months of planning and rehearsal”, and more than 150 US aircraft were used.

"The word integration does not explain the sheer complexity of such a mission, an extraction so precise -- it involved more than 150 aircraft launching across the Western Hemisphere," Caine told a joint press conference with President Donald Trump.

He disclosed that one of the aircraft got hit during the operation, but was in flying condition to let it return safely, adding that all the forces were over the water by 3.29 AM to return to the United States.

Caine said the mission drew on decades of experience gained from fighting terrorists in the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Africa. He added that the troops involved combined youthful energy with deep experience, with the youngest service member aged 20 and the oldest 49. The operation involved military strikes followed by an “extraction force” to secure Maduro.

Also Read: Trump releases first image of captured Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro aboard USS Iwo Jima

General Dan Caine claimed that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores “gave up” in front of US armed forces without much struggle.

"Maduro and his wife, both indicted, gave up and were taken into custody by the Department of Justice, assisted by our incredible US military with professionalism and precision, with no loss of US life," Dan Caine said.

On the subject of the US role in Venezuela after Maduro, Trump said that America will run the country until judicious transition "We're going to run the country until we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition," he added.