Trump signals long road ahead in Venezuela in his boldest interventionist move yet
President Donald Trump is setting the stage for the U.S. to be involved in overseeing Venezuela for a significant period of time, after conducting strikes and capturing dictator Nicolás Maduro and labeling himself “acting” president of Venezuela.
The move marks his boldest interventionist move yet — a foreign policy approach by which one country intervenes in another state’s affairs — and follows other major military operations from the Trump administration, including strikes in Syria in December 2025 against Islamic State operatives after an ambush against U.S. troops there, and strikes in June 2025 against the Iranian nuclear sites of Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.
Trump told The New York Times in an interview that was published Wednesday that “only time will tell” how long the U.S. will be running Venezuela, but said it would be “much longer” than a year.
Additionally, Trump announced recently that Venezuela’s interim government would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. and that the oil would be sold “immediately.”
TRUMP DISCUSSES EXPANSION OF DRUG CARTEL CRACKDOWN, ISSUES GRIM WARNING TO IRAN
“We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump told the Times. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil. We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.”
Likewise, Trump shared a doctored image that looked like a Wikipedia page that identified him as “Acting President of Venezuela” since January 2026.
Previous interventionist actions the U.S. has taken include launching an invasion of Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda conducted against the U.S., and an invasion of Iraq in 2003 that led to the toppling of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime. In both cases, the U.S. remained in prolonged occupations there.
The language the Trump administration is using now focusing on illegal migration is different than what was used during the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts, which focused on democracy-building and promoting freedom, Katherine Thompson, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, told Fox News Digital.
US RAID IN VENEZUELA SIGNALS DETERRENCE TO ADVERSARIES ON THREE FRONTS, EXPERTS SAY
“But the pathway to achieve those things, I don’t see, like, a broad differentiation from the things that we did before,” Thompson told Fox News Digital.
Thompson said that she doesn’t see how the Trump administration’s goals could be completed without small rotational deployments from U.S. forces to provide security, particularly in the event that the U.S. reopens its Embassy in Caracas, Venezuela.
“I don’t see how we’re going to have a team there without at least some small deployment of rotational forces to achieve security of our own personnel,” Thompson said.
So far, no U.S. troops are on the ground in Venezuela, and the Senate advanced a War Powers resolution Thursday that, if passed, would bar using U.S. forces within or against Venezuela without Congress’ approval.
TRUMP ADMIN SAYS MADURO CAPTURE REINFORCES ALIEN ENEMIES ACT REMOVALS
When asked by Fox News Digital about whether Trump’s “Acting President of Venezuela” post was shared jokingly and what it indicates about how long the U.S. will be involved in running Venezuela, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital: “President Trump will be the greatest President for the American and Venezuelan people in history. Congratulations, world!”
Although Trump has blasted previous administrations for actions in the Middle East and vowed he would bring an end to “endless wars” while ushering in an “America First” agenda prioritizing U.S. interests, Democrats warned that the U.S. may be involving itself in another complicated conflict.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., claimed that the U.S. is on the path to another “endless war.”
“The very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over and over again was no more endless wars,” Schumer said in an interview with ABC News Jan. 4. “And, right now, we’re headed right into one with no barriers, with no discussion.”
SEN JEAN SHAHEEN: MADURO IS GONE, BUT THE SAME POWER STRUCTURES REMAIN IN VENEZUELA
Trump announced on Jan. 3 that U.S. special forces conducted a “large-scale strike” against Caracas, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. Both were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Jan. 5 on drug charges, where they each pleaded not guilty.
The raid came after months of pressure on Venezuela and more than two dozen strikes in Latin American waters against alleged drug traffickers as part of Trump’s effort to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.
The Trump administration routinely stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and said he was the leader of a drug cartel. Likewise, Trump said in December 2025 he believed it would be “smart” for Maduro to step down.
The Trump administration has justified seizing Maduro as a “law enforcement” operation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an “invasion.”
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However, lawmakers primarily on the left have questioned the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress’ approval.
“This has been a profound constitutional failure,” the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement Jan. 3. “Congress — not the President — has the sole power to authorize war. Pursuing regime change without the consent of the American people is a reckless overreach and an abuse of power.”
Venezuela releases multiple American citizens from prison following military operation
The interim government in Venezuela has released at least four U.S. citizens who were imprisoned under President Nicolás Maduro‘s regime, Fox News confirmed.
The release marks the first known release of Americans in the South American country since the U.S. military completed an operation to capture Maduro, who is now facing federal drug trafficking charges in New York.
“We welcome the release of detained Americans in Venezuela,” a State Department official said Tuesday. “This is an important step in the right direction by the interim authorities.”
The release of American citizens was first reported by Bloomberg.
TRUMP SIGNS ORDER TO PROTECT VENEZUELA OIL REVENUE HELD IN US ACCOUNTS
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Venezuela had begun releasing political prisoners.
“Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you! I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.”
Venezuela’s interim government has reported that 116 prisoners have been released, although only about 70 have been verified by the non-governmental organization Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón, according to Bloomberg.
National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez said prisoner releases would continue, according to the outlet.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FILES SEIZURE WARRANTS TARGETING SHIPS TIED TO VENEZUELAN OIL TRADE: REPORT
The U.S. government issued a new security alert Saturday urging Americans in Venezuela to leave the country immediately, citing security concerns and limited ability to provide emergency assistance, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas said.
“U.S. citizens in Venezuela should leave the country immediately,” the embassy said in the alert.
The warning pointed to reports of armed groups operating on Venezuelan roads.
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Following the military operation, Trump suggested that the U.S. would “run” Venezuela for an extended period.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he said.
Rand Paul says GOP colleagues ‘don’t give a s‑‑- about these people in the boats’: They ‘say they’re pro-life’
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., accused his “pro-life” Republican colleagues of not caring about the people killed in boat strikes near Venezuela who the Trump administration, without providing evidence, claims were trafficking fentanyl.
During an appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” released on Tuesday, Paul said GOP lawmakers “don’t give a s‑‑-” about the people who died on the vessels, blasting his colleagues for not granting the presumption of innocence.
“I look at my colleagues who say they’re pro-life, and they value God’s inspiration in life, but they don’t give a s‑‑- about these people in the boats,” Paul said. “Are they terrible people in the boats? I don’t know. They’re probably poor people in Venezuela and Colombia.”
“I guess what I don’t feel connected to my Republican colleagues is that those lives don’t matter at all, and we just blow them up. And against all justice, and against all laws of war, all laws of just war, we have never blown up people who were shipwrecked,” he added, referring to the administration’s reported targeting and killing of survivors of initial strikes who were clinging to wreckage.
RAND PAUL SAYS TRUMP’S THREAT TO BOMB IRAN ‘IS NOT THE ANSWER’: NOT THE ‘JOB OF THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT’
The liberty-minded Republican said it is “against the military code of justice to do that.”
“We’re doing it and everybody just says, ‘Oh, well, they’re drug dealers,'” he said.
Paul criticized his fellow GOP lawmakers who have repeated the administration’s claims about the boats carrying fentanyl. He also took issue with colleagues who hold the position of, “Well, we’re at war with them. They’re committing war by bringing drugs into America.”
“They’re not even coming here,” Paul explained. “They’re going to these islands in the south part of the Caribbean. The cocaine — and it’s not fentanyl at all — the cocaine’s going to Europe.”
He emphasized that “those little boats can’t get here.”
“No one’s even asked this common question: Those boats have these four engines on them. They’re outboard boats. You can probably go about 100 miles before you have to refuel. Two thousand miles from us, they’d have to refuel 20 times to get here,” Paul said.
The senator accused the administration of conducting the boat strikes to create “a pretense and a false argument” ahead of the operation to attack Venezuela and arrest its president, Nicolás Maduro.
“It’s all been a pretense for arresting Maduro,” he said. “So, we have to set up the predicate. We got to show you we care about drugs.”
Paul helped the Senate advance a resolution last week that would limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military’s recent move to strike the country and capture Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican said amounts to war. The Upper Chamber could pass the measure later this week, although it faces an uphill battle in the House despite some support from Republicans.
“I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is, by all definitions, war,” Paul told reporters before the procedural vote last week. “Does this mean we have carte blanche that the president can make the decision any time, anywhere, to invade a foreign country and remove people that we’ve accused of a crime?”
SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK SCHIFF EFFORT TO FORCE RELEASE OF CARIBBEAN STRIKE FOOTAGE
The lawmaker has repeatedly criticized the administration’s boat strikes on alleged narco-terrorists in recent months, often raising concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people. The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.
Paul said on “The Joe Rogan Experience” that he believes the administration might attack Mexico next, which Trump has signaled could be a future target.
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“They want to do that next. They want to bomb Mexico,” Paul said.
Trump has said cartels are “running Mexico” and that “something’s going to have to be done” because Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is “very frightened” of the cartels.
Looming war powers Senate vote ramps up pressure on Hawley after MAGA backlash
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is facing backlash from the MAGA base after voting with Democrats and a small group of Republican senators to advance a war powers resolution related to Venezuela — marking a break with President Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to hold a full vote on the resolution that would limit Trump’s ability to conduct future military operations against Venezuela without Congressional approval, teeing up a test for Hawley with MAGA and its base.
The vote comes after Trump announced Jan. 3 that the U.S. military carried out a successful operation in Venezuela, capturing dictatorial president Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The couple is now being held in a New York City jail on sweeping narco-terrorism conspiracy and drug trafficking charges.
The operation set off condemnation among Democrats who took issue with Trump ordering the mission and strike on Venezuela without prior congressional approval.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP SENATE WAR POWERS PUSH AS ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ AFTER TRUMP’S VENEZUELA RAID
Days later, on Jan. 8, the Senate advanced a bipartisan war powers resolution by a 52–47 vote that would require the president to seek congressional authorization before engaging U.S. armed forces in “hostilities within or against Venezuela.” The procedural vote set up a full Senate vote slated for Wednesday.
Hawley joined Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Todd Young, R-Ind., in voting with Democrats to require Trump obtain congressional approval prior to military action in Venezuela, sparking condemnation and surprise from the MAGA base on social media earlier in January.
“The Republicans who sided with Democrats today on the War Powers resolution are STUPID & WEAK,” former campaign aide Alex Bruesewitz posted to X following the procedural vote. “It came as no surprise to see Rand Paul, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, or Todd Young vote against President Trump, they’ve all shown clear signs of Trump Derangement Syndrome in the past.”
Bruesewitz added that he was “surprised and disappointed” by Hawley for aligning “himself with the anti-Trump faction and Democrats, particularly since he represents Missouri, one of the most staunchly pro-Trump states in the nation.”
“Shameful,” he added.
Hawley previously defended his procedural vote by framing it as a constitutional issue rather than a rebuke of the administration.
“My read of the Constitution is that if the President feels the need to put boots on the ground there in the future, Congress would need to vote on it,” Hawley posted to X explaining the vote.
Fox News Digital spoke to a longtime Republican campaign operative working on midterm races, who said Hawley has broken with the administration over a handful of issues, and compared him to former Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, who frequently take shots at the president and his policies and draw media attention.
DEMOCRATS’ OWN WORDS BACK UP TRUMP ACTION IN VENEZUELA, TOP INTEL LAWMAKER SAYS
“It seems like every other month he does something that’s opposed to the president and the party more broadly,” the source said.
Trump needs two of the five Republicans to switch their positions ahead of Wednesday’s vote. The president put the five senators on notice following the procedural vote, warning on social media that they “should never be elected to office again.”
“This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief,” he wrote earlier in January. “In any event, and despite their ‘stupidity,’ the War Powers Act is Unconstitutional, totally violating Article II of the Constitution, as all Presidents, and their Departments of Justice, have determined before me.”
MAGA allies echoed Trump’s Truth Social message in their own posts, describing Hawley as a “RINO” whose political career is allegedly teetering over the vote.
“President Trump ERUPTS on the Republican senators who just voted to approve the War Powers resolution that would rein in his Venezuela operations, says NEVER ELECT THEM AGAIN,” Eric Daughtery posted to X Jan. 8.
“Remember this in November. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again! We are sick of compromised GOP dirtbags going against our President,” another MAGA-aligned social media account, Farm Girl Carrie, posted.
Hawley told Fox News Tuesday, when asked how he plans to vote, that he’s spoken with Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and DOJ officials about his top concern of having American troops on the ground.
He said they “assured me there are no ground troops in Venezuela” and that there “are not going to be ground troops in Venezuela.”
“My big concern has been ground troops in Venezuela and, making sure that if there’s going to be ground troops in Venezuela, (which) I would hope we would not do, that Congress authorizes that. But I will tell you, I’ve talked to the president. I talked to the secretary of state. I talked to the Department of Justice here in the last few days and have had tremendous conversations in the Secretary of State, who I just talked to recently, assured me there are no ground troops in Venezuela. There are not going to be ground troops in Venezuela,” he said. “The administration will notify Congress, will seek congressional approval where necessary.”
Hawley has drawn Trump’s ire before, including during a fight over Hawley’s stock-trading ban proposal in July. Trump, who previously said he liked the idea “conceptually,” accused Hawley of siding with Democrats to block a GOP-backed effort tied to reviewing Nancy Pelosi’s stock trading.
“Why would one ‘Republican,’ Senator Josh Hawley from the Great State of Missouri, join with all of the Democrats to block a Review, sponsored by Senator Rick Scott, and with the support of almost all other Republicans, of Nancy Pelosi’s Stock Trading over the last 25 years. The information was inappropriately released just minutes before the Vote — Very much like SABOTAGE!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Hawley has also broken with the administration on domestic policy, repeatedly criticizing Medicaid reforms included in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” back in 2025, even as he ultimately voted in favor of the sweeping package when it came to the Senate floor.
REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP REBELS DEFY TRUMP AS CONGRESSIONAL GRIP CONTINUES TO WEAKEN ACROSS MULTIPLE VOTES
The Republican campaign operative said it is unclear why Hawley has broken with the administration on certain policies, speculating he might have 2028 aspirations.
“The polling I’ve seen shows that Republicans are in favor of the president’s actions in Venezuela,” the sourced added. “He would be out of step with our voters. I don’t think it’d bode well for him. I think this was one of the most unifying moments on the right, when the president successfully arrested Maduro and took him out the country. Him siding with the Democrats is bizarre.”
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“How has that worked out for Rand Paul or Massie,” the operative said, referring to Kentucky lawmakers’ ongoing policy spats with the president and administration.
Mamdani, President Trump have been texting at least twice a week — as unlikely bromance blossoms: sources
Hey, you up?
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and President Trump have been exchanging “friendly” missives at least twice a week — as the unlikely bromance between the socialist and conservative commander-in-chief continues to blossom, The Post has learned.
‘JUST SAY YES’: TRUMP CUTS IN AS NYC MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI DODGES ON CALLING HIM A ‘FASCIST’ AT OVAL OFFICE
The former Astoria lawmaker and the Queens native have semi-regularly been chatting via text since their chummy White House meeting in November, discussing a wide range of topics, from the toppling of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and zoning red tape in Big Apple real estate, according to sources.
Insiders with knowledge of the conversation described the tone of the texts as “friendly.”
MAMDANI CALLS ICE DETENTION OF NYC EMPLOYEE ‘ASSAULT ON OUR DEMOCRACY’
“It wouldn’t make practical, political sense for them to scream at each other — in public or private,” one politico said, while also noting, “Of course, they can’t appear too cozy.”
The source added: “Mamdani would be smart to kiss Trump’s ass … Especially when the federal government can withhold billions from the city.”
The budding relationship and the regularity with which the two chat personally are a marked departure from previous interactions between presidents and New York City mayors in recent history.
MAMDANI STRONGLY CONDEMNS TRUMP’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELAN LEADER MADURO AS ‘ACT OF WAR’
Even Mamdani’s predecessor Mayor Eric Adams, who cozied up to Trump and rushed down to DC in the middle of the night to attend his inauguration last year, had to connect with the president through intermediaries.
Andrew Kirtzman, CEO of the strategic communications firm KSX, said it was “remarkable that Trump feels so comfortable with [Mamdani].”
“He hated (Bill) de Blasio, the last left-wing mayor, and probably felt estranged from the city because of it,” he said. “He seems to feel an emotional connection with Mamdani. The mayor must be totally amazed by what’s happening.”
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Asked how this might play with Mamdani’s base of Democratic Socialists of America members who despise the Republican White House, Kirtzman said he believed they’d likely give the lefty mayor a pass.
“I think the left understands this is purely transactional from Mamdani’s perspective,” he said.
Trump administration files seizure warrants targeting ships tied to Venezuelan oil trade: report
The Trump administration has filed court warrants in an effort to seize more ships linked to Venezuela’s oil trade, according to media reports.
So far, five vessels have been seized by the U.S. military and Coast Guard in recent weeks in international waters.
The seizures were part of the administration’s pressure campaign to force former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, which happened Jan. 3, when he was arrested by U.S. forces.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THERE WON’T BE A ‘SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKS’ AGAINST VENEZUELA DUE TO THEIR ‘COOPERATION’
After Maduro’s capture, President Donald Trump said the United States would control Venezuela’s oil resources indefinitely.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Justice Department.
Through federal courts, the U.S. government has filed multiple civil forfeiture actions to force the seizure and confiscation of oil cargo and ships that have been involved in the trade, the sources told Reuters.
It was not clear how many seizure warrants the U.S. is seeking.
US FORCES ATTEMPTING TO BOARD SANCTIONED RUSSIAN-FLAGGED OIL TANKER IN NORTH ATLANTIC, SOURCES SAY
On Friday, the War Department said it “will hunt down and interdict ALL dark fleet vessels transporting Venezuelan oil at the time and place of our choosing.”
“The Department of War blockade in the Caribbean Sea remains in full effect — and very effective,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell wrote on X. “In the past 24 hours alone, at least seven “dark fleet” oil vessels have turned around to avoid interdiction — because they know we mean business. The days of letting criminal activity run rampant in our hemisphere are OVER.”
A day earlier, Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department was monitoring several other vessels amid news of the U.S. seizure of the Bella-1 tanker, a Russian-flagged oil vessel allegedly responsible for transporting sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran.
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Russia, like Venezuela, relies on the shadow fleet to carry oil that is under sanctions.
Reporter’s Notebook: Republicans seek exit from Venezuela war powers debate after recently voting for it
President Donald Trump’s Senate allies could try to kill the war powers resolution before the Senate wades into the debate, Fox News has learned.
Fox News is told there is an effort to kill the bipartisan effort to debate the resolution blocking military action in Venezuela.
A bipartisan coalition of senators voted to launch this debate next week.
GOP SENATORS JOIN DEMOCRATS TO STOP TRUMP FROM POLICING VENEZUELA
However, Fox is told that some Republicans are looking for an exit ramp – even though they voted yes last week to begin the debate.
It’s possible that some Republicans may try to force a vote to table or kill the war powers resolution – because it’s not applicable. The argument is that the U.S. has no troops in Venezuela. Therefore, this resolution is out of bounds.
GOP EYES VENEZUELA’S UNTAPPED OIL WEALTH AS DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM OVER TAXPAYER RISK
It is also possible that Vice President JD Vance could be brought in to break a tie, Fox News was told. Keep in mind that a tie means the resolution fails. But if the Trump administration wants the prospective motion to table to pass – and kill the bill – Vance could be brought in to break a tie and pass the motion to kill it.
Fox is told that the Senate has successfully “discharged” the war powers resolution onto the floor. But there is still a vote to actually get into the resolution.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP SENATE WAR POWERS PUSH AS “POLITICAL THEATER” AFTER TRUMP’S VENEZUELA RAID
It is only at that point that the Senate could vote to table the resolution.
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Otherwise, the Senate must burn all 10 hours on the resolution and then vote to table. Or, vote to table after all the time is yielded back.
Trump rips into GOP defectors as ‘real losers’ as Senate readies for final vote
President Donald Trump unloaded on a cohort of Senate Republicans who voted to rein in his policing powers in Venezuela, arguing that they couldn’t give a good reason to vote against him.
During remarks at the Detroit Economic Club following a tour of a Ford plant in Dearborn, Mich., Trump harangued Republicans for not staying unified, while declaring that, though congressional Democrats have bad policy, they “stick together like glue.”
“We got some real losers, mostly great,” Trump said of Republicans before tearing into Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Todd Young, R-Ind.
TRUMP BLASTS GOP WAR POWERS DEFECTORS, SAYS THEY ‘SHOULD NEVER BE ELECTED TO OFFICE AGAIN’
That foursome joined all Senate Democrats to vote in favor of Sen. Tim Kaine’s, D-Va., war powers resolution, which, if passed, would require Trump to receive congressional approval before further military force is used in Venezuela.
Lawmakers are expected to take a final vote on the resolution on Wednesday.
When Kaine’s effort initially advanced, Trump blasted the defectors and declared that they should “never be elected to office again.” With the vote fast approaching, Trump didn’t hesitate to make clear that their votes were still fresh on his mind.
He panned Paul for routinely voting against GOP policies, and then turned his sights to Murkowski, Collins and Young.
GOP EYES VENEZUELA’S UNTAPPED OIL WEALTH AS DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM OVER TAXPAYER RISK
“Then you have Lisa Murkowski and you have Susan Collins, disasters,” Trump said. “And you had a gentleman from Indiana that, I don’t believe it, Todd Young, he voted against.”
“And you say, ‘Why are you voting against?’ They can’t give you an answer. They’re unable to give you an answer. It’s like, why are they against the attack on Venezuela? They’re against the attack,” he continued. “After they found out who was the most successful attack. Probably the most talented, most brilliant tactical attack that we’ve had maybe in 100 years. And they’re against it. Why?”
Paul has routinely voiced opposition to military action with congressional oversight; he’s a co-sponsor of Kaine’s resolution. Murkowski, Collins and Young had no issue with the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, but they argued that their vote for the resolution last week was to ensure Congress’ authority to weigh in before future action.
5 GOP SENATORS JOIN DEMOCRATS TO STOP TRUMP FROM POLICING VENEZUELA
The White House and Senate Republican leadership have been working to flip the lawmakers in order to prevent the resolution from passing, but it may not be the successful pressure campaign that they had hoped for.
Collins, when asked if she would still vote in favor of the resolution after leaving the Senate GOP’s weekly closed-door policy lunch, said, “Wes.”
There was also a fifth Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who voted to advance the resolution. Trump notably did not mention him during his speech.
That comes after Hawley spoke with several administration officials on what the next steps in Venezuela would be. Hawley said that he was told by officials that the administration would “abide by the statutory notification requirements, and also, if they took action that resulted in major ground operations would come back to Congress.”
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Hawley didn’t say if that would flip his vote and noted that he was in “listening and receive mode at this time.” Still, it did go a long way to address his biggest issue of boots on the ground in Venezuela.
“The administration’s view is that the resolution is way broader than ground troops, and I said, ‘Well, you know, and I didn’t draft the resolution, but my concern is about ground troops in Venezuela without congressional authorization,’” Hawley said.
Why would a city mayor defend a dictator while his own streets continue to burn?
As I continue my walk across America from Atlanta into Alabama, I’ve met countless everyday heroes — hardworking parents, devoted friends, and faithful community builders — who pour their lives into lifting up neighbors and restoring hope in forgotten neighborhoods. Their quiet sacrifices rarely make headlines, but they produce real, lasting change. That is why I’ve been deeply dismayed by leaders back home in Chicago and across the nation who seem far more eager to defend Nicolás Maduro, a brutal dictator whose regime has tortured, starved, and crushed its own people — rather than confront the rampant violence, poverty, and failing schools devastating far too many American communities.
After President Donald Trump’s decisive action to remove Maduro, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson chose not to stand for justice or human rights. Instead, he condemned the move as an “illegal regime change abroad” and claimed it was “solely about oil and power.” He even linked it to the “dehumanization of migrants from Venezuela” by the “far right.” He has since doubled down through multiple posts on X — as if defending a tyrant who has driven millions to flee their homeland is somehow compassionate.
As I press on with this walk, my faith reminds me that God calls us to justice and truth, not to prop up tyrants or play politics with people’s lives.
Why would a city mayor, with no international authority, insert himself into global affairs like this? I understand that local governance may not feel revolutionary enough. But supporting Maduro’s government — with its documented record of torture and extrajudicial killings — isn’t solidarity. It’s siding with evil.
WALKING ACROSS AMERICA SHOWED ME WHY FAITH AND FREE THOUGHT CAN STILL WIN
Johnson isn’t the only one. Leftist mayors like New York’s Zohran Mamdani and Los Angeles’ Karen Bass reflect a troubling pattern, aligning with anti-American narratives that prioritize ideological posturing over real suffering and crises within their own cities.
These mayors were elected to fix potholes, improve schools, and reduce crime — yet they spend invaluable time and energy condemning Trump while effectively giving dictators carte blanche. Do they not care about the people in their own backyards? Or are they advancing some international agenda that undermines the American Dream right here at home?
This distraction is painfully evident in Chicago, where our streets are plagued with violence and our children are trapped in underperforming schools. Yet, the Chicago Teachers Union jumped into the fray. On X, they promoted an “emergency protest” against what it called “U.S. aggression against Venezuela,” calling to “STOP THE BOMBINGS” and framing the situation as imperialist war.
Their X post urged people to join them at Chicago’s Federal Plaza. The post was co-sponsored by groups like the Anti-War Committee and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Why is a teachers’ union, which should be focused on raising literacy rates and preparing kids for success, rallying for a regime that has crushed its own people’s freedoms? And why are taxpayers footing the bill?
It gets worse. I recently saw a Freedom Foundation post stating that the CTU took a trip to Venezuela to “visit with government officials and teachers and tour communes.” I don’t even know what “tour communes” are, but what is the CTU doing in Venezuela and, again, why on the taxpayer’s dime?
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This is not about peace. This is about ideology. When politics becomes a false religion, it breeds rage and division, and it pulls us away from the faith and merit that build strong communities.
My walk is about reclaiming that foundation. Everywhere I go, I talk to Americans who believe in earning success through hard work, not handouts or excuses. Restoring merit means teaching trades, fostering entrepreneurship, and instilling values that lift people out of poverty — like the work being done at Project H.O.O.D. back in Chicago’s South Side. Restoring merit means believing in America.
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At this point, we must be brutally honest. These mayors are not here to help us. Where’s their progress? It isn’t there. They don’t believe in America. They don’t believe in us, the Americans. The reality is that “We the People” have to lead. It’s on us. We have to be the change. We have to step outside our doors and talk to our neighbors and take steps to help, however small they may be.
As I press on with this walk, my faith reminds me that God calls us to justice and truth, not to prop up tyrants or play politics with people’s lives. The American Dream isn’t about siding with dictators. It’s about creating opportunity for all, earned through merit and perseverance. It’s about believing in America.
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