U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. [EPA Yonhap News]

U.S. officials from the Donald Trump administration, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, held a closed-door briefing for Senate and House leadership on January 5 (local time) regarding the operation to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

The briefing, which took place late in the afternoon, was attended by the majority and minority leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties in the Senate and House, as well as some members of the relevant standing committees.

While it was reported that Secretary Rubio, along with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Pam Bondi, were scheduled to attend, their actual participation could not be confirmed.

Amidst ongoing debates about the legality of this arrest operation, government officials likely asserted the justification for the operation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, stated on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that "Today's briefing confirmed that the successful apprehension of Maduro, a drug-terrorist dictator who has sent deadly drugs and gang members into America, was one of the most impressive displays of military power and capability in history."

Johnson further emphasized, "Our military professionals executed the mission with speed, precision, and force, safely inserting, completing the objective, and withdrawing without a single American casualty. This is 'America First' and peace through strength."

Conversely, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, said on X that "The Trump administration's briefing left more questions than it answered."

Schumer wrote, "Whenever the United States embarks on this type of regime change and so-called nation-building, the results have always ended up harming America. As this briefing concluded, I felt that this too would end up being the case again."

Democrats have strongly criticized the Trump administration's Maduro arrest operation, carried out on January 3, arguing that it was a military operation conducted without congressional approval.

However, the Trump administration maintains that the operation was not a "war" but rather an act of law enforcement against President Maduro, who is accused of drug trafficking.

In an interview with NBC on the same day, President Trump reiterated that the United States is "not" at war with Venezuela, stating, "We are at war with people who sell drugs. We are at war with people who send prison inmates, drug addicts, and mental patients from their country into our country."

In an interview with NBC, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed claims that the operation violated the UN Charter (principles of territorial integrity and respect for sovereignty), stating that the U.S. "has not engaged in any act that violates international law."

Blanche added, "The United States has an absolute legal right to apprehend individuals accused of heinous crimes," and "we have taken all measures within the scope of what the law allows."