Hegseth Touts Deterrent Effect of Venezuela Raid During First 2026 Cabinet Meeting

Earlier this month, U.S. military forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores de Maduro, as part of Operation Absolute Resolve. Both are facing criminal court proceedings in the United States related to multiple federal charges, including narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.

During President Donald J. Trump's first cabinet meeting of 2026 at the White House today, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Operation Absolute Resolve, which occurred Jan. 3, was spectacularly executed, demonstrated the skills of the U.S. military and also served to reestablish the deterrent effect of the U.S. armed forces.

"No other military in the world ... could have executed the most sophisticated, powerful raid, not just in American history, I would say in world history," Hegseth said. "What those men did, going downtown, in another country ... in the most secure base in the middle of the night without anybody knowing until those simultaneous bombs dropped three minutes before the helicopters dropped - no other country could coordinate that, no other president would have been willing to empower those warriors that way."

Last year, President Donald J. Trump said Iran would not have a nuclear weapon. And Operation Midnight Hammer, executed in June 2025, backed up the president's words with effective military action, Hegseth said.

"When President [Donald J.] Trump said ... Iran, you won't have a nuclear bomb, he meant it," Hegseth said. "We sent those B-2s halfway around the world and they never noticed."

The War Department is also helping secure the border and put a stop to drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere - both are things the president has said he would do.

When the War Department effectively delivers on what the president has said the United States would do, it reestablishes the effectiveness of U.S. military deterrence, Hegseth said.

"That sends a message to every capital around the world that when President [Donald J.] Trump speaks, he means business," he said.