Trump briefs Americans on successful tactical operation over capture of Venezuela president, Nicolas Maduro and Wife

.....says 'a couple of guys' and a helicopter were hit as US forces stormed a 'fortress' to capture Maduro

US troops and a helicopter came under fire during the operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro, President Donald Trump said on Saturday, revealing new details about the overnight raid.

Trump said a US helicopter took fire during the raid in Venezuela.

Trump said American forces stormed what he described as a "very highly guarded" building, "like a fortress," and closed in on Maduro before he could reach a "safety space" surrounded by steel.

"I think we had nobody killed, I have to say, because a couple of guys were hit. But they came back, and they're supposed to be in pretty good shape," Trump said.

"We lost no aircraft; everything came back — we got it all back. One of them was hit pretty hard — a helicopter — but we got it back," the president added.

The Pentagon referred questions about Trump's comments to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.

Trump earlier said the US had carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela, capturing Maduro and his wife and flying them out of the country. The operation, he said, was done in coordination with American law enforcement.

Video footage shared on social media showed helicopters flying low to the ground in Venezuela. Caracas said American forces targeted military and civilian areas and strongly condemned the strikes.

Trump said that the US "turned off almost all of the lights in Caracas." He described the raid as being "very organized," with American forces working under near total darkness.

He declined to say which American forces participated in the raid. He said only that they're "the most highly trained soldiers in the world," adding that "there's nobody that has their talent."

He said the operation was planned with "pinpoint" accuracy, and that the US "built a house which was identical to the one they went into" — a tactic similar to what the US did ahead of the 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

The US has built up a massive military presence in the Caribbean Sea in recent months, gathering advanced warships, fighter jets, and an aircraft carrier, with the White House repeatedly threatening military action against Venezuela. He accused the country's leadership of facilitating drug-trafficking — claims Maduro rejected.