PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump gave the Venezuelan leader one last chance to step down.
In a private phone call a week ago, Trump told Nicolás Maduro that he had to go.
By that point, an armada of U.S. warships was floating off Venezuela’s shores. A CIA team had crept into the country, tracking Maduro’s movements and habits: where he slept, what he ate, where he traveled.
“You got to surrender,” Trump said, recalling the conversation at a news conference Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago home.
Maduro took the gamble of his life. He “came close” to giving in, Trump said, but stayed put.
That act of defiance set in motion the final phase of a secret and risky plan to evict Maduro by force. At 10:46 p.m. ET Friday, Trump gave the final order to launch.
This account of “Operation Absolute Resolve,” the most audacious military action in either of Trump’s terms, is based on interviews with more than a dozen White House, administration and congressional officials, as well as public statements.
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