Georgia Howe

And Trump had repeatedly demanded that Maduro step down or face more consequences.

The last we heard from Maduro, he was desperately trying to claim that he was, quote, ready to talk about an agreement to combat drug trafficking.

Apparently.

Right, so just before noon, President Trump addressed the nation from Mar-a-Lago.

First, he stressed that we lost no soldiers in the operation, and he touted the United States' military expertise in carrying it out.

In fact, he said, the mission was so successful that while they'd planned for a second set of even stronger strikes, it doesn't appear to be necessary.

He forcefully made the case for the strikes, blaming Maduro for Trend de Aragua flooding into the United States.

That group's been designated a foreign terrorist organization by his administration.

And as the indictment against Maduro lays out, the administration sees him as the key player in narco-terrorism operations from Venezuela into the United States.

As for what will happen in the coming days in Venezuela, the president said the U.S.

is going to effectively run the country as it transitions to a new government that will be legitimate, unlike Maduro's.

The president wrapped up his remarks by really hammering home the message to the rest of the Western Hemisphere that the U.S.

is going to reassert the Monroe Doctrine, stating that we won't passively stand by if our citizens or our interests are threatened by other countries.

Yes, so we've already gotten some responses from other world leaders.

Brazil's left-wing president, Lula da Silva, slammed the U.S., saying the operation crossed an unacceptable line.

He's calling for the U.N.

to respond vigorously.

And on that note, the U.N.

's initial response has been rather tepid.

It's called this a dangerous precedent, but nothing much else yet from them.