How the U.S. captured Maduro in Venezuela: A CIA team, steel doors and a fateful phone call

President Donald Trump gave the Venezuelan leader one last chance to step down, telling Nicolás Maduro in a private call that he had to go.

PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump gave the Venezuelan leader one last chance to step down.

In a private phone call a week ago, Trump told Nicolás Maduro that he had to go.

By that point, an armada of U.S. warships was floating off Venezuela’s shores. A CIA team had crept into the country, tracking Maduro’s movements and habits: where he slept, what he ate, where he traveled.

“You got to surrender,” Trump said, recalling the conversation at a news conference Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago home.

Maduro took the gamble of his life. He “came close” to giving in, Trump said, but stayed put.