New Delhi, Jan. 4 -- A cross-border assault ends with Maduro "flown out," as critics call it an invasion and US hypocrisy.

WASHINGTON - Venezuela's President Donald Trump said Saturday that the killing of Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, "could have happened" during what US officials described as an operation that ended with Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in American custody, an extraordinary claim that, if accurate, would mark one of the most aggressive uses of US power in the Western Hemisphere in decades, and one that is already feeding war crime claims at home and abroad.

The remark, delivered with the casual bluntness that has come to define US President Trump's second presidency, landed like a rhetorical match in a room alr...