New York Times retools front page after U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro

New York Times print editors redid the paper’s front page after the United States attacked Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro, a development that unfolded before the Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, print editions. Planning editor Josh Crutchmer said he woke around 5:30 a.m. to an alert about the strike and that he immediately emailed 10 editors in the Print Hub to scrap the prior plan and start from scratch.

Times reporters had been covering the news as it broke: Anatoly Kurmanaev, who is in Venezuela, messaged that Caracas had been hit, and official confirmation came at 4:21 a.m. when President Trump posted on Truth Social that the United States had captured Mr. Maduro and his wife. Editors faced three deadlines for the paper’s three editions — noon, 4 p.m.

and 8 p.m. — and considered the historical impact of the work, Gina Lamb, a deputy content editor, said. The team used a banner headline, opting for words like “capture” and “seize” rather than “arrest” while facts were still being confirmed. The first headline, written by Robb Todd and Todd Gregory, read: “U.S.

Seizes Venezuelan Leader in Commando Raid, Trump Says.” Editors used a postscript to update pages between editions. After a news conference in which President Trump said the United States would “run” Venezuela, Page One editor Ian Trontz updated the headline to “After Seizing Maduro, Trump Says U.S.

Key Topics

World, Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela, Donald Trump, Print Hub, Josh Crutchmer