Donald Trump led headlines following the sudden and unexpected U.S. military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In a recent, large-scale military strike, U.S. forces conducted an operation resulting in the capture of both Maduro and his wife. The raid, reportedly executed with precision and secrecy, caught Venezuelan authorities and international rivals off guard.
Days after the strike, Trump said the United States would temporarily govern Venezuela and prioritize U.S. control of Venezuelan oil interests, given the country’s vast reserves.
The action drew intense Democratic opposition, with lawmakers and critics calling the raid illegal and reckless and saying it lacked congressional approval. Leading Democrats described it as an imperialist move and emblematic of Trump’s disregard for lawful process.
60% of Americans are opposed to sending US troops into Venezuela to remove Maduro from power.
That includes 1-in-3 Republicans & overwhelming majority Independents and Democrats.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court
TRUMP IS A WAR CRIMINAL#Venezuela #NicolasMaduro #VenezuelaLibre pic.twitter.com/rYcwxNxgJ7
— Rebel_Warriors (@Rebel_Warriors) January 4, 2026
Recently, Fox News host Jesse Watters, in his prime time show, discussed this very deafening backlash coming from the left. He called Trump the leader of a world power who is on a spree to reclaim oil and assert dominance wherever necessary. He also chastised the liberal opposition towards American military and foreign policy decisions in general, which were barring the country from preserving matters of national interest.
He started of his rant by saying, “The left is uncomfortable exercising American power. It’s as simple as that. They are ashamed that we are a superpower. When we throw our weight around, they feel bad about it. They are now arguing that Venezuela has the right to send us drugs, gangs, steal our oil, and send it to China. But if you do something about them, we are the bad guys.”
Watters furthered his argument by clapping back at the most-used word, “dictator,” by the left to discuss such matters. He mentioned that, in fact, it was Maduro who fit the bill for such a character, as he has been accused of crimes against humanity. He added that the imminence of Maduro’s arrest was what offended Democrats, who have since called it an act that breaks the law.
British Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey claims that U.S. military action in Venezuela under Trump was not genuinely aimed at liberating the Venezuelan people or restoring democracy, but was driven by strategic interests, particularly access to oil. #USVenezuela #EdDavey… pic.twitter.com/M58Wn3cFXq
— Brut America (@brutamerica) January 7, 2026
The Fox News host continued to demand a little bit of gratitude from the left for something that has been done for the benefit of the country.
Thereafter, Watters took a dig at the Democrat ideology of a dictator and said, “Democrats literally campaigned in the last election exclusively on dictators are bad. It’s all we heard. The D word. Defending democracy against dictatorship. So a real dictator lost the election, stayed in power, and locked up his opponents. Trump put that guy in handcuffs, and Democrats say heat? What went about it the wrong way?”
Democrats have argued that the raid undermines the standing of the U.S. as a global power. Many congressional leaders have vowed to pass a war powers resolution in an attempt to limit Trump’s military actions. Some are even of the view that the U.S. President’s actions have been merely enriching allies, not protecting national security.
Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett has been quite vocal about the underlined illegal approach towards the removal of Nicolas Maduro by Trump. She has said, “The biggest problem that I have is that it was illegal. Everything that this administration does is illegal, and so I don’t know how you take the moral high ground when you are actually executing something in an unconstitutional way in the first place.”
