MARTIN GURRI: Let’s look at all the global benefits Trump reaped by grabbing Maduro
A certain class of analysts was purported to be scandalized by the American night raid on Venezuela that snatched away strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
China has been given a green light to invade Taiwan. Russia is finally free to trespass on… I don’t know, maybe Ukraine?
Even by today’s declining standards, that line of analysis is pathetically shallow.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THERE WON’T BE A ‘SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKS’ AGAINST VENEZUELA DUE TO THEIR ‘COOPERATION’
Neither Xi Jinping nor Vladimir Putin look to the U.S. for permission. The opposite is closer to the truth: They wish to make trouble and undermine the hegemonic power.
Russia assaulted Ukraine and China conducted naval exercises in Taiwanese territorial waters, all without filling out the White House’s “Permission to Invade” form.
What will be the lesson, for Xi and Putin, of the Great Venezuela Raid?
I would think it’s this: that Trump will run enormous risks to protect American interests.
TALARICO, AUCHINCLOSS: TRUMP’S BLOOD FOR OIL STRATEGY IS AS RECKLESS AS IT IS ILLEGAL
I leave it to the intelligent reader to reflect on whether this will encourage or discourage rash adventures.
Trump has no wish to carve the world like an apple into spheres of influence, in which China, Russia and the U.S. can plunder smaller nations at will.
His meddling in conflicts in Africa and Asia is proof of that — and anyone who has observed Trump for longer than half a minute will know he doesn’t set boundaries on his actions.
In reality, Trump’s style in geopolitical gamesmanship is without precedent, at least in my experience.
TRUMP SIGNALS LONG ROAD AHEAD IN VENEZUELA IN HIS BOLDEST INTERVENTIONIST MOVE YET
In any given theater, he looks for the tactical strike that will utterly alter the strategic landscape to our country’s advantage.
What will be the lesson, for Xi and Putin, of the Great Venezuela Raid? I would think it’s this: that Trump will run enormous risks to protect American interests.
After allowing the Israelis to plow and seed the field in Iran, Trump harvested a strategic victory by dropping bunker-busting bombs on the regime’s nuclear facilities. From that moment, events in the Middle East tilted in our direction — and the negative consequences for Iran continue to multiply as I write this.
In the same manner, the extraction of Maduro from his Venezuelan fortress has had a domino effect favorable to the U.S., not just in Latin America but around the world.
Let me count the ways.
IN VENEZUELA ITSELF
Here the dice are still rolling, and the final effects of the raid won’t be known for months, possibly years. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio chose to retain the Maduro people in power over the Venezuelan democratic opposition — a gamble on stability against the possibility of chaos and violence.
It could backfire, but the signs so far look encouraging.
The new Venezuelan president, Delcy Rodriguez, who happened to be Maduro’s vice president, has been sweet-talking the Trump administration. She may have played a part in the overthrow of her former boss.
LIZ PEEK: TRUMP IS PUTTING AMERICA FIRST BY BACKING IRAN INTO A CORNER
American officials are in Caracas, setting up shop. The Cubans, Russians and Chinese would seem to be out in the cold. Political prisoners are being released.
Most importantly from a strategic perspective, the Venezuelan oil industry is about to be resurrected with help from U.S. companies — and Venezuelan oil will soon flood global markets.
CUBA
Its once-vaunted military and intelligence personnel protected Maduro. In a humiliating blow to the country’s prestige, they were wiped out without much of a fight.
Cuba imports all of its energy but lacks the foreign currency to keep the lights burning. Venezuelan oil, offered on a bartered basis, made up 60 percent of fuel imports.
That’s now gone with the wind. Whatever still functions in the Cuban economy is about to disintegrate into darkness and silence.
President Trump said that the post-Castro regime is “ready to fall.” He also threatened, in his inimitable all-caps fashion, “THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO!”
Nothing is certain.
But if the Cuban military, who already run the country, believe that their equipment will grind to a stop within weeks, they may decide to do away with their Communist Party intermediaries and cut a deal with Yankee imperialism.
LATIN AMERICA
The region was already trending rightwards — Maduro’s fall will only accelerate this tendency. Conservative governments applauded American intervention, something unheard-of in Latin America.
Radical leftist governments, on the other hand, are in a panic.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, once a leader of the Marxist M-19 guerrillas, made worried noises about his own fate. He got a reassuring call from the president and will visit the White House in February.
LAWMAKER WHO FLED COMMUNISM DRAFTS SPECIAL RESOLUTION HONORING TRUMP AFTER MADURO OUSTER
Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega, normally addicted to repression, decided to release political prisoners in imitation of Delcy Rodriguez.
He also canceled an anniversary celebration — just in case the U.S. military were looking to pick off more unfriendly Latin American presidents.
CHINA
One condition Trump placed on Rodriguez is that Venezuela end its alliance with China and Russia. Eager to survive, Rodriguez appears willing to do so.
If that is the case, Maduro’s departure will represent a strategic disaster for Xi — the loss not only of its most useful ally in the region but of access to 800,000 barrels of cheap oil per day, along with the total loss of what has been called China’s “$100 billion gamble” on Venezuela.
In addition, Maduro’s lair was ringed with Chinese military technology, including air defense systems. They were neutralized with remarkable ease.
When Xi calculates the cost of invading Taiwan, he must now add the fact that the Chinese mainland itself appears vulnerable to attack from the air.
IRAN
Venezuela had become a playground for Iran and its terrorist proxies like Hezbollah. No more.
As the Islamic regime battles to survive a fierce street revolt, Trump has condemned the slaughter of civilians and told protesters “help is on the way.”
The fate of Nicolás Maduro thus weighs heavily on the ayatollahs’ minds.
The anti-regime protesters also see the parallel with Venezuela and have cheered the president on. Video can be found of a young man, somewhere in Iran, solemnly changing a street sign to “President Trump Street.”’
EUROPE
Venezuela demonstrated — once again — the absolute irrelevance of the Old World in times of crisis.
European governments couldn’t help or hinder the U.S., before or after the attack. They merely muttered from the sidelines.
Mostly they complained about U.S. violation of international law — but then overcame their scruples long enough to inquire about the payment of Venezuelan debt to European energy companies.
WAS TRUMP’S MADURO OPERATION ILLEGAL? WHAT INTERNATIONAL LAW HAS TO SAY
In 10 years of repetitive squabbles, the Europeans have yet to figure out how to live in Donald Trump’s world. They have yet to admit that their static “rules-based order” has been swept away by a tempest of change of which Trump is simply the avatar, not the cause.
It would be unfortunate if Europe’s limpness in the geopolitical arena emboldened the president to swallow Greenland whole.
RUSSIA
On this country will fall the most complex set of consequences.
Even more than China, Russia enjoyed a formal “strategic partnership” with Maduro, explicitly aimed at the U.S.
Venezuela purchased billions of dollars’ worth of Russian military equipment, aircraft and weaponry. Russia propped up Maduro on the world stage and endorsed his blatantly manipulated elections.
SOCIALISM COST ME MY COUNTRY. TRUMP ARRESTING MADURO MIGHT HELP US GET IT BACK
Putin and Maduro stood shoulder to shoulder in Moscow as recently as May 2025.
All of that ended literally overnight. Yet, curiously, the Russians reacted to the fiasco by saying little and doing nothing.
What’s going on?
There is, with Russia, a bigger picture to consider.
The country is stuck deep in the bog of the Ukraine war and has limited room to maneuver elsewhere. Western sanctions have driven Putin to a position of complete dependence on China.
The strategic intent of Trump and his people, I believe, is to sever that link.
They want Russia to be a competitor rather than a satellite of China. That would explain the sustained effort to broker the end to a war that otherwise has distracted and diminished an antagonistic power.
Because Russia is a major exporter of oil and natural gas, its economy rises and falls with the global price of those commodities.
Trump has clearly seized on this. He has hardened the sanctions on the purchase of Russian fuel, even as he works overtime to bring down the cost of energy.
The ouster of Maduro evidently plays into this scheme. The president expects to unleash a gusher of Venezuelan oil on the markets.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION
It’s his usual trick — a tactical blow that generates enough strategic leverage to nudge Russia into peace with Ukraine.
In this case, it hasn’t happened yet.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Possibly, it never will — Putin, after all, represents the Russian bear, whereas Maduro resembled a noisier but far less dangerous denizen of the tropical canopy. Frustrating American presidents is a habit the Russian leader has refined over the decades.
But it is a sign of the strange moment we are living through — and, it may be, of Trump’s skill at converting tactics into strategic outcomes — that we can imagine a raid on a Caribbean dictator helping to end a bloody war in Eastern Europe’s heart of darkness.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MARTIN GURRI
Latin America rebel groups urged to form ‘super guerrilla’ alliance against Trump
Latin America’s most powerful guerrilla groups are being urged to set aside years of bloody infighting and unite against President Donald Trump, according to reports.
The calls intensified in the wake of the arrest of former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, which has fueled fears among groups of a looming US-backed military intervention.
The recent call came from Colombia’s most wanted insurgent leader, Nestor Gregorio Vera, or “Ivan Mordisco”, who released a video appeal to rival rebel factions, even despite years of brutal infighting, according to Reuters.
After decades of waging a bloody conflict over territory, drug routes and illegal economies, Vera said the time had come to put differences aside.
US MAY BE INVOLVED IN VENEZUELA FOR YEARS, TRUMP SAYS
“The shadow of the interventionist eagle looms over everyone equally. We urge you to put aside these differences,” Vera said in the video, in which he appeared in camouflage flanked by two heavily armed fighters, Reuters said.
“Destiny is calling us to unite. We are not scattered forces, we are heirs to the same cause. Let us weave unity through action and forge the great insurgent bloc that will push back the enemies of the greater homeland,” he added.
Among the groups singled out was the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia’s largest and most powerful guerrilla organization, which controls vast stretches of the 1,400-mile border between Colombia and Venezuela.
US RAID IN VENEZUELA SIGNALS DETERRENCE TO ADVERSARIES ON THREE FRONTS, EXPERTS SAY
“The war between Mordisco’s Farc dissidents and the ELN has been very, very bloody with a huge humanitarian impact,” Jorge Mantilla, a security analyst and expert on Colombian guerrilla groups, told The Telegraph.
“So it calls my attention that, despite that, Mordisco is still saying, ‘stop this, let’s unite against our enemy, which is the US and its intervention’. So the cards are on the table.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, himself a former guerrilla fighter, had seized on the threat of a united insurgent front to call for a concerted effort to “remove” drug-trafficking guerrillas.
He said he had invited Venezuela’s new leader, Delcy Rodriguez, to cooperate in rooting out the armed groups.
But reports of a potential joint military operation involving the US, Colombia and Venezuela also raised the prospect that the ELN could finally be dismantled after more than 60 years of insurgency.
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT MACHADO PLEDGES TO RETURN TO VENEZUELA, SEES ‘ALARMING’ INTERNAL CRACKDOWN
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, guerrillas now operate along Venezuela’s 2,219-kilometer border with Colombia and control illegal mining near the Orinoco oil belt.
The National Liberation Army (ELN), a Colombian Marxist guerrilla group with thousands of fighters and designated a U.S.-designated terrorist organization, has operated in Venezuela as a paramilitary force.
The group is believed to have around 6,000 fighters and controls key cocaine-producing regions, illegal mining operations and smuggling routes, per reports.
Following Mr Maduro’s capture, the ELN vowed to fight to its “last drop of blood” against what it called the US empire.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Today, the main goal of the ELN is not the takeover of power in Colombia or to rebuild a Colombian state, but more so to defend the Bolivarian Revolution, because they consider themselves a continental guerrilla [group] because their ideological inspiration is Latin Americanist, so they feel the struggle of Venezuela is their struggle,” Mantilla told the Telegraph.
“I think ELN is, right now, in a very vulnerable position,” Angelika Rettberg, political science professor at the University of the Andes in Colombia told the outlet.
“I also don’t think that even if they are able to build this unified organization, that would make them less likely to be hit by an eventual US attack,” Ms Rettberg said.
Maria Corina Machado details gifting Trump Nobel Peace Prize during White House visit
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado detailed gifting her Nobel Peace Prize to President Donald Trump during an interview with “Fox & Friends.”
“He deserves it,” Machado told “FOX & Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. “It was a very emotional moment.”
Machado explained she presented the prize to the president on behalf of the Venezuelan people, crediting him for the historic work he did in liberating the country from its dictator Nicolás Maduro.
“[Venezuelans] appreciate so much what he has done for, not only the freedom of the Venezuelan people, but I would say the whole hemisphere,” she said.
TRUMP ANNOUNCES VENEZUELA TURNING OVER MILLIONS OF BARRELS OF OIL TO US GOVERNMENT ‘IMMEDIATELY’
As a long-time Maduro critic, Machado has been vocal in supporting Trump’s unprecedented removal of the disgraced Venezuelan leader, prompting her to credit him with the prize for the historic capture.
Trump appeared pleased and gratified by Machado’s gesture.
“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.”
Days ago, Machado discussed transferring the prize to Trump during an interview on “Hannity,” but the idea was rejected by the Norwegian Nobel Institute last Friday.
“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others. The decision is final and stands for all time,” the institute wrote in a statement.
TRUMP VOWS US ‘IN CHARGE’ OF VENEZUELA AS HE REVEALS IF HE’S SPOKEN TO DELCY RODRÍGUEZ
While the award cannot be officially transferred, Machado instead gifted it to Trump.
President Trump has spoken previously about being eligible to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
On “Hannity,” Trump argued he should receive one award for each war he has ended.
PRESIDENT TRUMP SAYS THERE WON’T BE A ‘SECOND WAVE OF ATTACKS’ AGAINST VENEZUELA DUE TO THEIR ‘COOPERATION’
“You know, when you put out eight wars, in theory, you should get one for each war,” he told Fox News.
Machado also opened up about visiting the White House and meeting with Trump on Thursday, nearly two weeks after the United States captured Maduro.
“It went very well,” she said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity I had to speak with President Trump. Something I’ve been looking forward for a very long time.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“It was a huge responsibility because I did it on behalf of the Venezuelan people,” she added.
Tune in to Fox News on Friday to watch Machado’s full interview on “Fox & Friends.”
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado presents Nobel medal to Trump despite institute ban
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, describing it as a historic gesture recognizing his commitment to freedom and the fight against tyranny.
Machado spoke with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday, when she was asked whether she offered her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump.
“I presented the president of the United States the medal … the Nobel Peace Prize, and I told him, ‘Listen to this, 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simón Bolívar a medal with George Washington’s face on it,” Machado said. “He kept that medal for the rest of his life. Actually, when you see his portraits, you can see the medal.”
She said Lafayette gave the medal to Bolívar as a symbol of the partnership between the people of the U.S. and the people of Venezuela and their shared fight for freedom against tyranny.
TRUMP PLANS TO MEET WITH VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER MARIA CORINA MACHADO NEXT WEEK
“Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolívar are giving back the heir of Washington, a medal, in this case the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom,” Machado said.
Trump thanked Machado for the medal in a post on Truth Social on Thursday evening.
“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today,” Trump wrote. “She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT MACHADO PLEDGES TO RETURN TO VENEZUELA, SEES ‘ALARMING’ INTERNAL CRACKDOWN
Machado’s meeting with Trump came nearly two weeks after the U.S. captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and amid lingering questions about her political future. The meeting also followed comments from Trump casting doubt on Machado leading the country rather than endorsing the Venezuelan opposition leader.
“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump told reporters Jan. 3. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
The Washington Post previously reported Trump was annoyed Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, an award he had hoped to receive and that Machado dedicated to him, though the White House said the president’s decisions were based on “realistic decisions.”
KRISTI NOEM DELIVERS TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO VENEZUELA’S VICE PRESIDENT FOLLOWING MADURO CAPTURE OPERATION
Still, Machado floated the idea of transferring the prestigious award to Trump last week during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
“Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?” Sean Hannity asked. “Did that actually happen?”
Machado responded, “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.”
“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado continued. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step toward a democratic transition.”
Despite her intent, the Norwegian Nobel Institute shut down the idea last Friday.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others,” the institute said in a statement. “The decision is final and stands for all time.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for a reaction.
Lawmaker who fled communism drafts special resolution honoring Trump after Maduro ouster
EXCLUSIVE: A House lawmaker who fled one Communist dictator will put forward a congressional resolution formally commending President Donald Trump for the humanitarian feat of ousting another, as Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro now sits in a New York prison.
Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., fled Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba as a young boy, telling Fox News Digital what Trump and the U.S. military did without American casualties was “extraordinary.”
“I’m introducing a resolution that congratulates President Trump on his actions and also the way in which the arrest was conducted by law enforcement agents, but also facilitated obviously by the armed forces of the United States,” Gimenez said.
“I think that we should congratulate the president for taking the action, but also our own forces in the manner in which they conduct.”
MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION
Trump’s operation was the largest-scale iteration yet of what is being dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine,” a play on words of the 1823 doctrine of President James Monroe that warned foreign European powers against further colonizing the West.
Trump’s doctrine deems the Western Hemisphere a core security responsibility of the U.S., and the Maduro arrest showed his administration will give teeth to Monroe’s policy and pressure hostile governments directly.
“I don’t think there’s no other way to deal with these narco-terrorists. They’re just not going to give up,” Gimenez said of the “Donroe Doctrine” in action in the Caribbean.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP SENATE WAR POWERS PUSH AS ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ AFTER TRUMP’S VENEZUELA RAID
“There was an arrest warrant. There’s a $50 million bounty on his head, $25 million of which was put on by Joe Biden and his administration. The difference is this president actually did something about it and enforced that arrest warrant and went in and got him. And, so, you know, I find absolutely nothing wrong with what he did.”
Gimenez called it a “seismic event” for the west, adding now other strongman regimes around the world are taking notice.
The resolution itself officially commends Trump, the Armed Forces, the Intel community and DOJ for “remarkable success of ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’” in Caracas.
VANCE SAYS CROCKETT ‘DOESN’T KNOW WHAT SHE’S TALKING ABOUT’ ON VENEZUELA MADURO OPERATION
“Whereas, on January 3, 2026, President Donald J. Trump demonstrated extraordinary political courage by authorizing ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ to apprehend the dictator Nicolás Maduro and dismantle the command structure of the Cártel de los Soles.”
The resolution notes that Maduro and wife Cilia Flores are accused of narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to possess machine guns, all violations of federal law.
“Whereas, in 2024, the regime finalized its transition to full authoritarianism when its controlled Supreme Court ratified a 15-year ban on the leading opposition candidate, María Corina Machado – [and] to maintain his grip on power, the Maduro regime carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings, tortured political opponents, and terrorized the Venezuelan people, fueling the largest displacement crisis in the history of the Western Hemisphere,” Gimenez’ resolution added, delineating why it was so crucial that Trump took action against a geographically proximate threat.
“[Congress] stands in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and supports a rapid, constitutional transition to free and fair elections to restore the democratic institutions dismantled by the Maduro dictatorship.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
However, Gimenez warned during his interview with Fox News Digital that not all of Congress is onboard with condemning authoritarian or communist regimes like Maduro’s.
“They do have some [defenders]. Believe me, they’re always, they’ve got people here [on Capitol Hill] defending them, and trying to stop the actions that will lead to democracy and freedom in the Western Hemisphere. They come to the aid and to the defense of these indefensible regimes. We have some here in Congress that do that. They’re not a majority, but they’re here.”