Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) praised President Donald Trump’s and War Secretary Pete Hegseth’s operation to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro, calling it a “flawless execution of a very difficult mission.”
Speaking with Breitbart News Saturday host Matthew Boyle, the Ohio senator revealed that he was briefed by Hegseth following the early Saturday morning arrest of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
“This is, Matt, what you could say, a perfect execution and demonstration of what America First means. First of all, our men and women of the military did an absolutely incredible job,” he said. “I had a minute to talk to Secretary of War Hegseth — he briefed me on some of the details. I mean… absolutely flawless execution of a very difficult mission, that’s number one. Number two, is we have a President of the United States who will not tolerate anybody harming American citizens.”
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Calling Maduro a narco-terrorist, Moreno argued that his capture is justified because he is “responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of American citizens.”
“He trafficked poison into our country. He sent mental patients, criminals, and gang members into our nation — not in small numbers,” the senator added.
Trump announced the arrest of Maduro and Flores later on Saturday morning, hours after Venezuela declared a state of emergency after air strikes hit its capital city, Caracas.
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The dictator had been wanted by U.S. law enforcement on multiple narco-terrorism charges, with a $50 million bounty for information leading to his arrest and/or conviction.
Maduro is expected to appear in the Southern District of New York court on Monday, facing multiple narcoterrorism, drug, and weapons charges, according to NewsNation.
“Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil,” Trump said during a press conference. “Now, Maduro will never again be able to threaten an American citizen or anybody from Venezuela.”
Moreno went on to say that Trump does not “rattle” when he says he is going to do something.
Trump repeatedly put pressure on Maduro throughout December, setting a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving Venezuela and warning the dictator that “it would be smart” for him to give up his power.
“It means no more illegal migration coming out of Venezuela, no more gang members taking over apartment complexes in Colorado, [and] no more death squads being sent into our nation,” Moreno said of Maduro’s capture.
The senator, who was born in Colombia, went on to call the event “the most important day in Latin America in probably the last 100-plus years.”
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Maduro’s January 3 capture was just days shy of Moreno’s previous prediction that he would fall from power by the end of December 2025.
“We will not tolerate a narcoterrorist who inflicts harm on the United States. We will treat terrorists as the United States has treated them in the past. I don’t see him in office beyond the end of this year,” the senator said in Cartagena, at the National Business Association of Colombia (ANDI) summit back in August.
Breitbart News Saturday airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.
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