Vance Details Whereabouts During US Operation That Captured Nicolás Maduro

Vice President JD Vance provided new details Tuesday about where he was located while his Trump administration colleagues monitored the U.S. special forces mission that captured Venezuela’s president last month, according to an interview with the Daily Mail.

The operation took place in early January when U.S. military and law enforcement forces apprehended Nicolás Maduro and his wife, flew them out of Venezuela, and brought them to the United States to face federal charges.

“I was in a van, in a mobile Situation Room about 20 miles away from Mar-a-Lago,” Vance told the Daily Mail on Tuesday.

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“I was actually with some friends, and [Secretary of State] Marco [Rubio] called me, probably around 10:30 p.m. [Jan. 2] and said, ‘This is going to happen tonight.’”

He confirmed that he learned of the impending operation through that late-night call, as reported by The New York Post.

Vance said he and Marco Rubio, who was at Mar-a-Lago with other senior officials, discussed whether he should return to Mar-a-Lago as the mission unfolded.

“I travel with a very large Secret Service detail, and would it be a problem for the vice president to show up with 30 siren cars at Mar-a-Lago an hour before this operation goes live?” Vance said. “And we decided, yes [it would be].”

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Images released by the White House after the operation showed President Donald Trump overseeing the mission with Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Vance’s absence from that group prompted speculation about his role.

Despite not being present in the command room, the vice president said he was closely involved and fully informed about the operation.

“I expected it was going to happen that night,” he said.

“The plan was originally for me to go in … [We decided that] I would just watch it remotely and ensure that we preserved operational security, which, by the way, we were able to do. One of the critical reasons that mission was ultimately successful is because no one found out about it.”

The capture occurred in Caracas on Jan. 3 when U.S. forces carried out a coordinated military action.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were taken into custody and flown to New York to face federal drug and weapons charges in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Maduro was arraigned and entered not guilty pleas, and both he and Flores remain in federal custody pending further court proceedings.

Asked whether President Trump was annoyed that he was not on site during the briefing with news media, Vance replied: “No, not at all. I was [on] the phone, with the president and the entire team for about six hours for the entire course of that operation.”

Vance addressed media speculation about his absence: “I think it’s funny. The media tries to create something out of nothing.”

The operation, part of broader U.S. intervention and enforcement actions in Venezuela this year, has drawn widespread attention domestically and internationally.

Supporters of the mission have noted the legal and security rationale for detaining Maduro, who was indicted on federal drug trafficking and weapons charges in 2020, though critics have questioned aspects of the mission and its aftermath.

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