The government of United States released a paid announcement on Tuesday, funded by federal money, turning the capture of Nicolás Maduro into a 59-second political communication piece, featuring President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, as indicated by the firm AdImpact Politics on their X account.
The material, the fifth in a broader campaign funded with 20 million dollars from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), revolves around Operation “Absolute Resolve”, carried out on January 3, 2026, when U.S. special forces captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores at the military complex of Fuerte Tiuna in Caracas and transferred them to the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima.
The phrase articulating the announcement belongs to Hegseth: "Nicolás Maduro had his chance until he no longer did. He got involved with the wrong people and faced the consequences".
The piece retrieves images of Maduro challenging Trump to use them as a contrast of "before and after," and describes the operation as "one of the most impressive, effective, and powerful displays of American military power and competence in the history of the United States."
Rubio appears with a direct warning to any government considering challenging the administration: «Don't play. Don't play with this president while he is in office, because it won't end well».
The Secretary of State adds that Trump “is not a president who just talks, writes letters, and holds press conferences: when he says something matters to him, he means it.”
The campaign has generated a fundamental legal and political controversy.
The 20 million dollars were transferred on September 19 from a budget item of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to a budget category called “One Big Beautiful Bill Commemorative Events”, and the contract was awarded the next day to LMD Agency Inc., a Maryland-based company.
Until October 5, AdImpact estimated that between 9.7 and 12 million dollars had already been spent on the aired ads.
Democratic senators Patty Murray and Chris Murphy demanded explanations from the DHS at the end of September, and legal analysts point out that the announcements could violate federal restrictions against government propaganda. Trump responded by saying that he and his political committee would pay for the ads that had already been released, although he did not commit to a clear reimbursement.
Beyond the budgetary controversy, the Trump administration has turned the capture of Maduro into a tool for regional deterrence.
Hegseth already used the case as an explicit warning to Cuba in June 2026, during a visit to the Guantánamo Naval Base, stating that Maduro thought he could challenge the United States and "discovered the response in about 45 minutes," and that Cuban guards and Russian air defenses were unable to prevent it.
Trump also referenced the operation during the UN General Assembly in September 2026, solidifying the capture as a symbol of his administration's strongman politics in the western hemisphere.
The announcement concludes with Rubio's voice summarizing the doctrine that the White House wants to project: «If you didn't know, now you know. Because this is how things are going to happen».
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