Mamdani Accuses Trump of Violating International Law As Maduro is Transported to NYC

(Photo by Steve Sanchez/Sipa USA).(Sipa via AP Images)

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) condemned President Donald Trump’s incursion into Venezuela and arrest of Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, calling it a “violation of federal and international law.”

Mamdani, who was sworn in as New York’s first democratic socialist mayor on Jan. 1, wrote on X, “I was briefed this morning on the U.S. military capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, as well as their planned imprisonment in federal custody here in New York City. Unilaterally attacking a sovereign nation is an act of war and a violation of federal and international law.”

Mamdani continued, “This blatant pursuit of regime change doesn’t just affect those abroad, it directly impacts New Yorkers, including tens of thousands of Venezuelans who call this city home. My focus is their safety and the safety of every New Yorker, and my administration will continue to monitor the situation and issue relevant guidance.”

Trump held a press conference Saturday from Mar-a-Lago to update the American people on the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and their extradition to New York, where they’ve been indicted on drug charges.

The two are expected to be housed in New York City’s Manhattan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which CNN legal analyst Elie Honig called “infamously one of the worst federal facilities that we have in the bureau of prisons.”

“It has come under investigation. Judges have ordered investigations because of the conditions there,” Honig told Erin Burnett on Saturday.

“It’s overcrowded because, as I said earlier, there used to be two separate facilities one in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, but the one in Manhattan is currently closed for renovations,” Honig continued. “So it’s overcrowded. It’s unsanitary. There have actually even been judges who have given people bail or reduced sentences because of the conditions in this prison. So it’s a rough place to be held. “