'What am I waking up to now?' Critics weary of Trump’s international chaos

03 January

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during the White House Faith Office Luncheon at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 14, 2025. REUTERS Nathan Howard

Social media appears to have had enough of over-the-top behavior from the nation’s unpopular president.

“It's time to play America's favorite new game, 'what the f—— am I waking up to now,’” posted political gadfly Jeff Tiedrich, speaking of President Donald Trump’s unexpected invasion and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and flying them out of the country amid a volley of explosions and smoke.

International reaction to the aggressive move was hostile, with British parliament member Jeremy Corbyn calling the kidnapping “an unprovoked and illegal attack on Venezuela.”

“This is a brazen attempt to secure control over Venezuelan natural resources,” said Corbyn on Bluesky. “It is an act of war that puts the lives of millions of people at risk, and should be condemned by anyone who believes in sovereignty & international law.”

“Kidnapping the leader of a foreign state without any declaration of war and announcing it via social media is full-on rogue state stuff. From the world’s number one superpower,” posted iPaper columnist James Ball on Bluesky. “I think it’s probably safe to say the Nobel is off the cards for another year.”

“Still, I’m sure destabilizing Venezuela and likely all of its neighbors will work wonders for refugee flows from that region. Genius,” Ball added.

BBC writer Adam Schwarz argued that “even if Trump’s attack on Venezuela and kidnapping of Maduro somehow led to a positive impact on Venezuela’s future, it would not make these actions by the United States legal, moral or wise.”

“Normalizing and legitimizing this behavior endangers all countries—democracies and dictatorships alike,” Schwarz said.

Other critics complained on Bluesky that “no one supports a war in Venezuela, by the way,” with a Marquette poll showing 76 percent of US respondents opposing war, and 70 percent of respondents in a YouGov\CBS poll opposing. In fact, no polls in multiple surveys showed a majority of surveyed participants eager to invade Venezuela.

From Your Site Articles