Trigger Warning: This article contains details about violence.
Vice President JD Vance is fully supportive of President Donald Trump and the administration after their military action against Venezuela on January 3, 2025, which sparked mixed reactions globally. Vance claimed on X that the strikes were aimed at dismantling “narcoterrorist” networks, before acknowledging that issues with oil interests also play a key role in the conflict.
According to The Huffpost, Vance wrote in his post that the attack wasn’t solely due to Venezuela’s alleged connection to fentanyl, a synthetic opioid commonly used during anesthesia and pain management for terminally ill patients that has also been linked to fatal overdoses due to addiction.
According to data by the BBC from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 96% of fentanyl destined for the U.S. is intercepted at the southern border. “First of all, fentanyl isn’t the only drug in the world,” Vance wrote, adding that fentanyl was still coming from Venezuela, or at least had been in the past.
🚨 BOOM: J.D. Vance delivered a blunt message:
“Are we really supposed to sit back while a communist regime takes what isn’t theirs in our hemisphere and do nothing? That’s not how great powers behave.”
He added that, under President Donald Trump, the United States is acting… pic.twitter.com/p0QBQ9PW4z
— Commentary 🇺🇸 Tom Homan (@HomanNews) January 4, 2026
He went on to argue that cocaine remains the primary drug trafficked through the country. Describing cocaine as one of the primary sources of revenue for Latin American cartels, Vance said cutting off or reducing those profits would majorly affect criminal networks.
“If you reduce the money from cocaine, you weaken the cartels overall,” he wrote, adding pointedly, “And cocaine is bad too!” JD Vance claimed that the majority of fentanyl entering the U.S. comes through Mexico, claiming that addressing that route remains a key focus of their policy and gave credit to Donald Trump for shutting the border on his first day in office as part of that strategy.
When U.S. forces began targeting Venezuelan-operated vessels in the Caribbean in September, Trump and senior officials said the mission was intended to curb drug smuggling, particularly fentanyl entering the country. In addition, JD Vance said that Venezuela’s abundant oil reserves are one of the reasons America has pushed for regime change.
The US President Trump ordered strikes on sites inside Venezuela , including military facilities, U.S . Source- CBS News.
bombed Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base, La Guaira Naval Base.
Nicolás Maduro says Country is being attacked Fuerte Tiuna pic.twitter.com/aV3zPOkxnK
— KOT YOUNGEST (OMAR) (@faridazmaritim) January 3, 2026
JD Vance also accused the South American nation of illegally seizing America’s significant oil assets “about 20 years” ago, claiming the country used that wealth to fund criminal activity.
“Are we really supposed to let a communist steal our assets in our hemisphere and do nothing?” he asked. “Great powers don’t behave that way,” Vance continued. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the United States is a great power again — and the world should take note.”
You see a lot claims that Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs because most of the fentanyl comes from elsewhere. I want to address this:
First off, fentanyl isn’t the only drug in the world and there is still fentanyl coming from Venezuela (or at least there was).
Second,…
— JD Vance (@JDVance) January 4, 2026
The United States carried out a surprise military operation in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro from his home in Caracas. Trump announced that the U.S. would now take control of the administration since Maduro and his wife, First Lady Cilia Flores, are now in custody. Trump announced the capture on Truth Social from Mar-a-Lago.
The 63-year-old leader, who held control over the nation for over a decade, came from a strong political background and first set foot in world politics during the 1980s after he joined the Socialist League of Venezuela, a Marxist-Leninist party.
ATTACK ON VENEZUELA | President Donald Trump has announced that the U.S. would take control of Venezuela after this morning’s attack, until a safe transition occurs. #Venezuela #DonaldTrump #NicolasMaduro pic.twitter.com/6cfygDN8lJ
— Andrea Falche Dominicci, M.A. (@falchedominicci) January 3, 2026
Trump has also blamed Maduro for running a corrupt government, citing falling oil prices, international sanctions, alleged drug trafficking, and illegal immigration, all of which have affected Trump’s America.
Before the capture, according to the BBC, Donald Trump claimed that Maduro “is no friend of the U.S.” and that it would be “smart for him to go”. Experts already warn that without a clear plan, Maduro’s removal could lead to more violence and instability, with Venezuela already facing severe inflation problems, economic collapse, and threats from dangerous armed groups.
Disclaimer: All information mentioned in the story is derived from multiple secondary sources. Inquistr does not own responsibility for them.
