US President Donald Trump says the US will run Venezuela following a military strike on the capital city, Caracas, which resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Speaking at a news conference in Florida, hours after US air and ground forces executed a daring mission in Caracas to extract Maduro and his wife from a heavily fortified compound around 2 am. Among the units reportedly involved in the mission was the US Army's elite counter-terrorism unit, Delta Force.

Maduro and Flores are now on board the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, part of the larger US military force that has assembled in the southern Caribbean since last August. They are to be taken to New York to face trial on drug related charges.