FORT BRAGG, N.C. — President Donald Trump on Friday for the first time publicly revealed the nature of the injuries suffered by U.S. personnel in the daring raid to seize Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife from their Caracas home.
Operation Absolute Resolve — which involved more than 200 forces and 150 aircraft — left American helicopter pilots wounded “pretty bad in the legs,” Trump said during an address to troops at Fort Bragg, a major Army installation in North Carolina.
Trump explained that the pilots landed on a “couple of machine gunners” who made it through a “thicket of bombs,” before adding: “but they were taken out rapidly by our snipers who were stationed on platforms.”
During his remarks, Trump told the service members that “no other country has the extraordinary warriors that we have.”
“With your help,” the commander in chief noted, “America is winning again, America is respected again, and perhaps most importantly, we are feared by the enemies all over the globe.”
Troops erupted in applause when first lady Melania Trump took the podium to offer brief remarks. “To our great armed forces of the United States stationed all over the world, I have a nostalgia-filled message,” she said with a smile. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
The base is home to the XVIII Airborne Corps and the Army’s Special Operations command.
After their speeches, the president and first lady privately met with the members of the Delta Force team who conducted the mission, a White House official told Military Times.
Trump, speaking to reporters before boarding Air Force One en route to Mar-a-Lago, said one of the soldiers who helped capture Maduro will receive the Medal of Honor. He did not identify the service member.
“These are great warriors. These are great patriots,” he concluded.
Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.