With Capture Of Maduro, Trump Claims Successful Operation As He Treads Into Uncharted Territory
HuffPost
With the capture of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump and his allies are calling the audacious U.S. military operation an unqualified success.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump and his allies are calling the audacious military operation a major success as the U.S. leader once again demonstrated a willingness to use U.S. forces for risky missions that come with a potential big payoff.
The operation has ousted a South American strongman blasted by Trump’s administration as an “illegitimate” dictator and a “narco-terrorist,” a scourge responsible for a steady of stream of illegal drugs poisoning U.S. and Europe.
“It was a brilliant operation, actually,” Trump told The New York Times shortly after U.S. forces were cleared from Venezuelan airspace.
But the path ahead could certainly be treacherous as the White House faces a series of difficult questions.
Who will fill the power vacuum now that Maduro is gone? What lies ahead for a country that’s endured years of hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages and brain drain despite its vast oil wealth?
Ten people were killed when protesters breached the compound’s outer wall after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The military campaign has killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sunk at least 10 Iranian warships and struck more than 1,000 targets.
As the American and Israeli airstrikes continued, a top Iranian security official vowed defiantly that “we will not negotiate with the United States.”
Blasts in Tehran sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in an area of government buildings.
Four people were injured at the airport, the emirate's media office said early on Sunday.