Four Questions, 50 Seconds: Inside NYT Reporter’s 4.30 am Call With Trump After Maduro’s Capture

Last Updated:January 04, 2026, 18:49 IST

Minutes after announcing Nicolás Maduro’s capture, Donald Trump took a pre-dawn call from a New York Times reporter, briefly discussing the US operation carried out in Caracas.

US President Donald Trump

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured by US forces and flown out of the country, US President Donald Trump announced on social media at 4:21 AM on Saturday. The post came after a dramatic overnight operation in Caracas. Within minutes of the announcement, a reporter from The New York Times reached Trump directly by phone to ask about the mission.

Explosions Reported In Caracas

Hours earlier, reports began emerging from Venezuela’s capital. Tyler Pager, a White House reporter with The New York Times, said he was staying at a hotel in Florida when he woke up after a colleague in Caracas sent an urgent message saying the city had been bombed.

According to reports, at least seven explosions were heard in an attack that lasted under half an hour. The strikes appeared to target military facilities. Smoke was seen rising from a hangar at a military base, while another installation in the capital lost power.

Maduro and Flores were at their residence inside the Ft. Tiuna military complex outside Caracas when US forces moved in and captured them.

Operation ‘Absolute Resolve’

American officials said the mission, known as “Absolute Resolve," was carried out under the cover of darkness. US forces had remained positioned in the region, waiting for clear weather to allow aircraft safe access into Caracas.

Planning for the operation was extensive. Officials said US personnel trained using a replica of the presidential compound.

Trump later said troops were equipped with “massive blowtorches" in case they needed to cut through steel walls inside a safe room to extract the couple.

The US has said Maduro and Flores will face narco-terrorism charges in American courts.

A Phone Call To The President

Pager said he called Trump around 10 minutes after the social media post. “I just called him directly and he picked up. I wasn’t that surprised because the president’s phone habits are pretty well-documented – he regularly picks up calls from reporters," the NYT quoted him as saying.

The reporter said Trump answered with a simple “Hello". “I told him I was calling from The New York Times and had questions about the operation," Pager said.

“This is the first time I have ever called the president on his cellphone. There is an extremely high bar to reach him directly, and I called him only after consulting with Dick Stevenson, the Washington bureau chief," he added.

Brief Exchange, Few Answers

Pager said Trump did not object to the call but avoided detailed answers. “In our brief conversation, he did not complain that I had called. At the same time, he did not really answer my questions, instead directing me to tune into his news conference a few hours later," he said.

“I got in four questions in 50 seconds before the president hung up," Pager added.

Reflecting on the moment, he said Trump’s accessibility stood out. “Mr Trump has been talking to reporters for decades… It is certainly a different style than that of his predecessors."

News world Four Questions, 50 Seconds: Inside NYT Reporter’s 4.30 am Call With Trump After Maduro’s Capture

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