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The Politics of Trump’s Idiotic and Illegal Venezuela War

A war that no one wants

Dan Pfeiffer

Jan 4

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Preview

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Well, that was a hell of a way to wake up in 2026.

First came reports of explosions. Then we learned that the U.S. had sent troops into Venezuela. Finally, Trump announced that the United States had captured Venezuela’s president and his wife and was bringing them to the U.S. for criminal prosecution.

After the bombing of the boats, many people expected some additional U.S. action in Venezuela. But this went far beyond what most people thought was even possible.

For a president who ran on an (absurd) anti-war platform—and who just last month reveled in receiving a fake peace prize from a soccer organization—inva ding another country to kidnap its leader without congressional approval or even consultation is quite the move.

Trump and the MAGA right are triumphant over the successful execution of this military operation. Fox News is in a full lather, thrilled to combine its two great loves: war and Trump. The official Pentagon message is FAFO—“Fuck Around and Find Out”—a sentiment gleefully echoed by GOP politicians and right-wing influencers.

There are enormous questions of legality, international relations, precedent, and human rights that need to be addressed. I’ll leave most of that to the experts, including my friends at Pod Save the World. But as trite as it sometimes sounds to talk about the politics of war and peace, the politics matter—because they shape everything that comes next...