U.S. politicians and celebrities don’t hold back on Trump’s strike on Venezuela: “The American people do not want this”
The fallout from the United States’ arrest of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife continues with questions over the legality of the operation.
On Saturday President Donald Trump announced that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been “captured and flown out of the country” after a U.S. military operation to oust the dictator.
The United States has acted to remove the deeply unpopular Maduro from power, freeing Venezuela from a violent and undemocratic leader. However the nature of the U.S. action - entering a sovereign nation to unilaterally impose regime change - has sparked controversy around the world.
Maduro was snatched by U.S. military in the nation’s capital of Caracas and flown to New York were he was indicted on criminal drug charges. In announcing the strike, Trump said that his government would “run” Venezuela until a permanent leader can be put in place.
Trump enacted the military operation without any Congressional or multilateral approval from American allies, leaving some to question the legality.
U.S. politicians have their say on Maduro strike
Tensions between the United States and Venezuela had been growing in recent months, with a pronounced build-up of U.S. military forces in the region. But despite a series of strikes on Venezuelan vessels, Saturday’s operation against Maduro still came as a shock to many.
Trump’s former ally Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene questioned the motivation for the strike, which was officially described as an effort to reduce drug trafficking. However Greene asked why Trump had pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, a convicted cocaine smuggler: “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.”
High-profile Democrat and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described Trump’s decision to arrest Maduro as an example of an “unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.”
Trump recently held a surprising cordial White House meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying that he was “confident that [Mamdani] can do a very good job”. On Saturday the newly-inaugurated Mayor seemed less confident of Trump’s handling of the Maduro strike, saying: “I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act.”
Similarly, writer Stephen King had serious doubts about the action, saying: “Maduro’s not a good guy, agreed. But neither is Putin, and Trump rolled out the red fucking carpet for him.” King suggested that the real motivation for Trump’s interest in Venezuela was economic, with more oil reserves than any country on the planet.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who Trump defeated in the 2024 Presidential Election, questioned the reasons for U.S. intervention in Venezuela. She wrote: “The American people do not want this, and they are tired of being lied to.”
“This is not about drugs or democracy. It is about oil and Donald Trump’s desire to play the regional strongman.”
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