CNN took on Donald Trump again this week, and they came with receipts. On The Source, Kaitlan Collins stacked the President’s own words against him and let the contradictions do the damage as MAGA watched its “America First” promise collapse on TV.
The side-by-side footage first showed him on the campaign trail vowing to avoid foreign entanglements. On the other hand was his recent defense of the U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
For context, the first clip was from 2016, where Trump promised to stop interfering with foreign regimes that Americans “know nothing about.” Then, in another one from the 2024 campaign, he blasted “stupid foreign wars in countries you’ve never heard of.”
Finally came the president’s video aboard Air Force One again from a few days ago. Now he was defending the 2026 Venezuela operation, threatening leaders in Mexico and Colombia, and saying the U.S. would even invade Greenland for “national security.”
Trump just issued threats to attack Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Iran, Venezuela (again), and Greenland (which would be an attack on all of NATO). pic.twitter.com/WEYEXD0GWy
— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) January 5, 2026
Collins pointed out that the administration had already made a pattern of escalating threats across multiple countries in less than 48 hours. Online, many argue that the “America First” brand was redefined by this montage alone.
“CNN compiled Trump’s flip flops side by side. It’s a montage of contradictions and broken promises,” one user wrote. “More proof that Campaign Trail Trump & White House Trump are separate people,” another commented.
A third user said, “It is a montage of lies” while another added, “He’s disintegrating before our very eyes.”
CNN compiled Trump’s flip flops side by side. It’s a montage of contradictions and broken promises.
— Evaristus Odinikaeze (@odinikaeze) January 6, 2026
Collins also interviewed former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. She was once one of Trump’s loudest allies and is now one of his most vocal critics.
Greene didn’t defend the operation but did say that previous regime-change efforts in Iraq, Libya, and Syria were also sold as liberation before they spiraled into terrorism.
Her comments were seen as proof that the Republican base is divided. As Politico reported, Trump’s reversal has been justified by much of MAGA.
Some, primarily Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, argued the operation was to enforce Maduro’s U.S. drug trafficking indictments. Others claimed Venezuela falls within America’s “hemispheric defense” zone under the updated Monroe Doctrine.
A third faction embraced the regime change, as they believed the 79-year-old president did it cleaner than past ones.
Trump’s ‘Donroe Doctrine’, the🇺🇸U.S. new Monroe Doctrine is alive now.
This 1941 poster aged like wine, given today’s situation in the West Hemisphere. #LatinAmerica #Venezuela pic.twitter.com/rz0vHKu5qI
— Shen Shiwei 沈诗伟 (@shen_shiwei) January 4, 2026
One of the most widespread views is that America is powerful and Venezuela is weak, so international law shouldn’t be in the way. Trump’s rhetoric has drifted far from his original anti-intervention pitch, right?
As Collins let Trump’s words speak for themselves, Chatham House analysts warned that Trump now owns whatever comes next in Venezuela.
Though we remember that he has no clear plan for governance or diplomatic presence on the ground. Worst of all, U.S.-led transitions rarely end well, and we have history to back this claim up.
Could this prolonged involvement alienate the very MAGA voters Trump needs in the midterms?
