In this photo released by the White House, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and US President Donald Trump monitored military operations launched against Venezuela, in Palm Beach, Florida, on January 3, 2026. MOLLY RILEY/MAISON BLANCHE VIA AP
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line from the US administration's National Security Strategy, published in December 2025, should have caught the attention of those who continued to view Donald Trump through the lens of his criticism of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. "The outsized influence of larger, richer and stronger nations is a timeless truth of international relations," it stated.
That "outsized influence" explained why Washington resorted to a coup de force. The attack, clearly contrary to all principles of international law, resulted in the capture of Nicolas Maduro, who had ruled in Caracas for more than 10 years, at the cost of a dramatic collapse of Venezuela. It also explained why Trump announced his intention to take direct control of the country for an indefinite period.
The contradiction between Trump's criticism of regime change by force, which fueled the "forever wars" that distracted the US from its own citizens, and his celebration as a US victory of the abduction of the heir of Chavism, is misleading. In reality, it is erased by geography and by Trump's own definition of "America First," his guiding principle since entering politics.
