During the trial, Maduro was full of confidence, tapping the table with his fingers and repeatedly emphasizing, "I am the president of Venezuela, I am a prisoner of war, I was kidnapped."

When the judge read out his rights to remain silent, to have a lawyer, and to bail, he surprisingly said, "I had no idea about these rights before." This was interpreted by the media as "the shock of a dictator experiencing the rule of law in the U.S. for the first time."