Reports Say Up to 80 People Were Killed in Trump Ordered Venezuela Attack

Reports coming out of Venezuela say as many as 80 people were killed during the U.S. military operation ordered by Donald Trump, and early accounts from the ground show that civilians were among the first to lose their lives.

According to regional officials and journalists inside the country, residential areas were hit during the initial phase of the attack. Families say people were killed in or near their homes as air and ground forces moved into Caracas and surrounding areas. These civilian deaths reportedly happened before Venezuelan security forces fully engaged, challenging early narratives that framed the operation as a clean military action.Witnesses described explosions near apartment buildings and crowded neighborhoods, with people who had no connection to the government or military caught in the middle. As the situation unfolded, hospitals reportedly became overwhelmed, and local officials struggled to account for the dead as communication systems went down.

Only after those civilian losses did official statements begin to focus on military casualties. Venezuelan authorities later confirmed that at least 24 Venezuelan security officers were killed during clashes with U.S. forces. In addition, dozens of allied foreign personnel working with the Venezuelan government were also reported dead, pushing the total number of fatalities closer to the widely cited figure of 80. The Trump administration has defended the operation as a necessary move tied to criminal charges against Venezuela’s leadership and has emphasized that no U.S. troops were killed. But for people on the ground, the order of events matters. Civilians were impacted first, and their deaths have yet to be fully acknowledged or explained.