Nicolás Maduro found after Pam Bondi’s $50 million bounty announcement, ‘He’s in Venezuela,’ mocking Trump administration trends

The U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s recent announcement doubling the reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has sparked a wave of reactions across social media, mixing sharp wit with pointed skepticism.

“He’s in Venezuela. I take Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, & Apple Pay. Now quit deflecting & release the full, unredacted Epstein Files,” wrote a user on X.

On August 7, 2025, Bondi revealed a $50 million bounty — a significant jump from the prior $25 million set under the Biden administration — accusing Maduro of being one of the world’s largest narco-traffickers working closely with notorious cartels like Tren de Aragua and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel. Bondi said the Justice Department had seized over $700 million in assets linked to Maduro, including private jets and vehicles, and traced nearly seven tons of fentanyl-laced cocaine to his network.


“DOJ offers a $50m reward for info on Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. Well, it doesn’t take a James “Bondi” to know he’s in Venezuela,” said another user.

Despite the serious tone, social media users seized the moment to launch a torrent of witty and sarcastic posts, centering around the widely repeated observation: “He’s in Venezuela” — a phrase that quickly went viral as a humorous yet brutally obvious remark.

The joke resonated because it highlights the basic fact that Maduro remains firmly entrenched in his home country, defying the US bounty and international pressures.

Tweets, memes, and gifs playfully mocked the Trump administration alongside Bondi, implying that $50 million might not be quite enough incentive when the target’s whereabouts are common knowledge.

The Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yvan Gil, responded sharply on Telegram, dismissing the reward as “pathetic” and a “crude political propaganda operation,” calling Bondi’s announcement a desperate distraction from unrelated scandals, notably referring to the controversy over the non-existent Jeffrey Epstein “secret client list” that Bondi had previously promised but failed to deliver. Gil asserted that Venezuela’s dignity is not for sale and condemned the announcement as an absurd smokescreen.

This public spat underscores continued tension between the U.S. and Venezuela, with Maduro surviving multiple indictments since 2020 for narco-terrorism and importation of cocaine conspiracies, alongside U.S. sanctions and diplomatic isolation. Notably, despite the bounty, Maduro was re-elected in 2024 in an election widely condemned as fraudulent by the US, EU, and numerous Latin American countries.