NYT, WaPo Reportedly Learned About Imminent U.S. Raid To Capture Maduro But Held Off Publishing To Not Endanger Troops

The New York Times and The Washington Post learned that the U.S. was set to conduct a raid to capture authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro hours before it was set to take place but held off publishing to not endanger troops, according to a new report.

Semafor, which first reported on the story, noted that the practice kept longstanding journalistic traditions in the U.S. despite President Donald Trump's continued hostility against the outlets and legacy media in general.

The raid took place on the early hours of Saturday after Trump gave the green light to "Operation Absolute Resolve." Elite troops had trained for months to execute the operation, even using a replica of the presidential compound based on gathered intelligence.

Months earlier, the CIA had sent a small team inside the South American country to track Maduro's locations and movements, providing key intelligence that led to his capture.

CNN reported that the team was sent to the country over the summer. One source operated within the authoritarian government and assisted the U.S. with tracking Maduro before the operation.

"CIA covertly inserted a small team into Venezuela in the summer that was able to provide deep insight into Maduro's pattern of life, which made it possible to snatch him so easily when the time came," the source told the outlet

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were finally taken and could make a court appearance as soon as Monday, according to NBC News. They have been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation and conspiracy and weapons offenses.

Trump said that top U.S. officials will work with a "team" to help run Venezuela until a democratic transition takes place. The team will include Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

"It's largely going to be, for a period of time, the people that are standing right behind me. We're going to be running it. We're going to be bringing it back," Trump said during a press conference in his Mar-a-Lago club.