A group of Atlantic writers published an extensive report detailing President Donald Trump’s attack in Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro, who was voted out of office last summer but refused to leave.
It’s clear that while many on both sides of the political aisle are happy to see Maduro gone, there is concern about the United States putting “boots on the ground” in the country and about Trump’s pledge, “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition.”
"Maduro’s capture — a high-risk, high-yield military operation — offered Trump a moment of triumph in his months-long quest to topple the Latin American despot," wrote writers Vivian Salama, Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan Lemire, Shane Harris, Isaac Stanley-Becker and Sarah Fitzpatrick.
Trump’s problem, however, is that even some of his “closest allies told us that they were unnerved by the president’s brash, no-plan-for-tomorrow approach to ousting a sovereign nation’s leader,” the piece continued. “Trump provided few details as he declared that a group of officials who were standing near him at the news conference, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, would ‘run’ the country until a ‘safe, proper, and judicious transition’ could take place.”
The announcement was “stunning,” the report said, particularly coming from a president who opposes nation building and campaigned on “America First.” Yet, the writers explained, with the economy in turmoil, unemployment on the rise and another government shutdown on the horizon, the administration’s haphazard intentions in Venezuela seem just as chaotic as Trump’s tariff policy.
"The vagaries of the administration’s plans stood out in contrast with the precision of Maduro’s capture. They also invited questions about how deeply the U.S. would become involved in Venezuela’s future, as well as about the legality of the operation," the authors wrote.
There was no congressional authorization of war as mandated by the Constitution; in fact, Trump did not even inform Congress that the U.S. military was going into Venezuela.
"It was a stunning announcement for a president who campaigned on the perils of nation building. And Trump made no mention of wanting to spread democracy or allowing Venezuela’s opposition, which the United States has recognized as the legitimate winners of 2024’s election, to take power," the report continued.
Trump’s Saturday press conference devoted more time to the operation to capture Maduro than to how the U.S. plans to “govern” the country.
In that lengthy press conference, the only Venezuelan politician Trump discussed other than Maduro was Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, who was sworn in after the capture and still refers to him as the legitimate president.
However, the Atlantic noted, “Trump said she had already told Rubio that the new government in Caracas would do whatever the U.S. wanted — something she denied. In summary, Trump said, the U.S. is looking to ‘make Venezuela great again—very simple.’”
Trump's critics are asking whether this is the "America First" that MAGA voted for.
Read the full report here.
