The Trump administration announced yesterday a $50 million reward for the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the new bounty in a video statement, highlighting Maduro’s ties to drug cartels and calling the South American dictator a threat to U.S. national security.
Today, @TheJusticeDept and @StateDept are announcing a $50 MILLION REWARD for information leading to the arrest of Nicolás Maduro. pic.twitter.com/D8LNqjS9yk
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 7, 2025
“Maduro uses foreign terrorist organizations like TDA, Sinaloa, and Cartel of the Suns to bring deadly drugs and violence into our country. To date, the DEA has seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself,” said Bondi.
“The DOJ has seized over $700 million of Maduro-linked assets, including two private jets, nine vehicles, and more,” she added. “Yet, Maduro’s reign of terror continues. He is one of the largest narco traffickers in the world and a threat to our national security.”
The United States’ bounty on Maduro previously increased in January when the Biden administration increased it to $25 million. The higher bounty came after the United States accused Maduro of claiming victory over a fraudulent election last year.
The United States has not recognized Maduro as Venezuela’s lawful leader since 2019, after the dictator claimed victory over the “deeply flawed 2018 presidential election,” according to the Department of Justice.
The Department of Justice first placed a bounty on Maduro in 2020, set at $15 million.
This is the latest move in Trump’s crackdown against Maduro that dates back to his first term in office.
One of Trump’s last acts during his first term targeted Maduro after enacting sweeping sanctions on assets and people suspected of aiding Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, of trading its fuel.
Venezuela’s economy has collapsed under the Maduro regime, with millions of residents fleeing the country, and those still living in the country living in extreme poverty.
The Maduro regime has kept afloat almost entirely from the country’s oil industry. Venezuela possesses the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
Earlier this year, Trump reversed course on a decision to cancel Venezuela’s license to work with Chevron to export oil to the United States.
Chevron first obtained the license to work in Venezuela in 2022, and Trump canceled the license in February.
The president renewed the license in July, reportedly as part of a prisoner swap that saw 10 American hostages returned to the United States from Venezuela.