Trump's Maduro takedown resets the global chessboard and reasserts American power

President Donald Trump’s bold determination to capture, arrest, and bring Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro to proceedings for drug-related offenses is acold bigger than Operation Absolute Resolve itself. It resets the planetary chessboard. Here are 10 reasons why.

First, the Venezuelan cognition proves that American subject and quality capabilities aren’t conscionable amended than anybody else’s — they run successful a wholly antithetic dimension. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has thrown his full subject astatine Ukraine successful hopes of establishing Russian domination and sidesplitting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The bloody warfare has dragged connected for 3 years, costing hundreds of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars, portion draining some countries. And still, that warfare grinds on.

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President Trump sent a tiny radical of peculiar forces into Caracas. Within 3 hours, they had captured President Maduro and his wife, transporting them to New York to look justness successful a U.S. court. No Americans were killed.

Operation Absolute Resolve, similar Operation Midnight Hammer, which destroyed Iran’s atomic capabilities successful a substance of hours, was cautiously planned, flawlessly executed, and 100% successful. Nobody but America could bash that — and leaders astir the satellite cognize it.

Second, arsenic President Trump says, if you termination Americans, you volition beryllium held accountable. Maduro and the cause cartels person killed tens of thousands of Americans with drugs. Not lone person we present secured our borders and stopped the travel of fentanyl, but we are bringing cause cartel leaders — including the Maduro household — to look justice.

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Third, President Trump has conscionable reversed decades of failed American overseas policy. For years, American leaders of some parties ignored the value of the Western Hemisphere. They dismissed the increasing threats from the countries themselves and from anti-American powers seeking to found footholds successful our hemisphere. American leaders turned a unsighted oculus to cause smuggling and quality trafficking. The Biden administration, for its ain governmental purposes, actively encouraged a wide penetration crossed our borderline by amerciable aliens. 

Operation Absolute Resolve, similar Operation Midnight Hammer, which destroyed Iran’s atomic capabilities successful a substance of hours, was cautiously planned, flawlessly executed, and 100% successful. Nobody but America could bash that — and leaders astir the satellite cognize it.

While we were focused connected the everlastingly wars successful the Middle East and the dogma of clime change, 3 groups were moving into South and Central America — the Chinese, the cartels, and the communists.

Trump’s caller nationalist information strategy puts the Western Hemisphere astatine the halfway of our overseas policy. Trump allies and reformers present govern Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, and El Salvador — and perchance Venezuela. His semipermanent imaginativeness is simply a North and South America agreed by akin economical and governance systems, moving successful harmony for bid and prosperity.

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Fourth, President Trump has reestablished the Monroe Doctrine, which forbids overseas powers from operating successful the Western Hemisphere. Two 100 years ago, President Monroe warned European powers against interfering successful the Americas. Sixty years ago, President Kennedy utilized the Monroe Doctrine to support Soviet missiles retired of Cuba. Forty years ago, President Reagan utilized it to halt the Soviet Union from establishing subject bases successful the Caribbean. The Monroe Doctrine was a foundational rule of American overseas policy, establishing the Western Hemisphere arsenic an American portion of influence.

The Obama medication abandoned the Monroe Doctrine. Secretary of State John Kerry unilaterally declared it dead. The Biden medication besides abandoned the Monroe Doctrine by looking the different mode portion Russia, China, and Iran established footholds successful respective countries.

By sending the American armada into the Caribbean, President Trump reinstated the Monroe Doctrine and declared, "American dominance successful the Western Hemisphere volition ne'er beryllium questioned again."

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The caller Monroe Doctrine is not an effort to support our confederate neighbors down; it is intended to support malign powers out.

Fifth, President Trump uses not lone subject mightiness but each aspects of American powerfulness — particularly trade, finance, and exertion — to power satellite events. Before helium dispatched peculiar forces to seizure Maduro, Trump enactment monolithic economical unit connected Venezuela. Maduro relied connected a shade fleet of unregistered tankers to illegally vessel lipid abroad, particularly to China.

These transactions were sanctioned but ne'er enforced. Oil income brought Maduro astir $200 cardinal a week, which helium utilized to bribe and blackmail Venezuelan kleptocrats and wage his military. President Trump enforced those sanctions and seized the lipid tankers. By cutting disconnected his main root of funding, it was lone a substance of clip earlier Maduro ran retired of money.

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Sixth, critics are speedy to impeach Trump of the policies helium erstwhile criticized — authorities change, nation-building, and everlastingly wars. They’re wrong. President Trump has learned from the failures of the past — helium doesn’t privation to repetition them. President George W. Bush overthrew the Iraqi and Afghan governments, fired authorities technocrats, and imposed U.S. occupations that were doomed from the beginning. He tried to enforce Western-style democracies connected countries that were neither suited for it nor wanted it. He got america tangled successful decades of wars we couldn’t win, with monolithic losses successful humor and treasure.

President Obama made the other mistake. He helped topple dictators during the Arab Spring but past walked distant from the ensuing chaos, nether the misguided presumption that these countries would instantly clasp ideology connected their own.

President Bush tried to bash excessively much. President Obama did excessively little. Both failed.

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If critics had listened cautiously to President Trump’s property conferences and statements, they would recognize helium aims to illustration a antithetic course. Trump said the U.S. would "run" Venezuela until governance could beryllium turned implicit to the Venezuelans. That’s a acold outcry from decades of concern and nation-building.

Federal instrumentality enforcement unit basal ticker extracurricular the Metropolitan Detention Center arsenic they await the accomplishment of captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, successful New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)

Until Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, seized power, Venezuela had a agelong contented of democracy, with regular elections, a escaped press, and an autarkic judiciary. Trump isn’t trying to tally Venezuela forever. He is already negotiating with remaining members of the Maduro authorities and governmental absorption groups for a creaseless and speedy transportation of powerfulness to the Venezuelan people, overseen by the U.S.

Seventh, the oil. The future, successful some manufacturing and artificial intelligence, belongs to countries with technological superiority and inexpensive, abundant vigor resources. Venezuela has the world’s largest known lipid reserves but needs concern to modernize production. American companies person a agelong past of moving with Venezuelan lipid companies, and we tin bash truthful again. It volition beryllium a win-win for the U.S. and Venezuela.

But determination is simply a secondary effect of accrued Venezuelan lipid production: implicit time, it volition thrust down planetary prices. Russia and Iran trust connected lipid income to money their governments. More lipid worldwide means little prices, which means little income for our enemies.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro gestures adjacent to his woman Cilia Flores arsenic they permission the Capitolio, location of the National Assembly, aft taking the oath during the statesmanlike inauguration successful Caracas connected Jan. 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

Eighth, corrupt, incompetent, America-hating dictators should instrumentality note. With American help, Maduro is present gone. If the United States and Venezuela, moving together, win successful establishing a caller authorities that restores capitalism and democracy, it volition succeed.

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If so, could Venezuela beryllium the spark that ignites different antiauthoritarian betterment movements? Cuba is kept live by Maduro’s cause money. What happens erstwhile that wealth runs out? What happens to the pro-Maduro Colombian authorities erstwhile a caller Venezuelan authorities is formed?

Ninth, the satellite volition present spot firsthand what the American ineligible strategy looks like. Maduro volition beryllium tried successful the U.S., successful a nationalist courtroom, with the satellite watching. The Justice Department has worked for years to physique a coagulated lawsuit against Maduro for narcoterrorism, cause trafficking, and wealth laundering. It volition amusement Maduro’s idiosyncratic connections to cause cartels and quality trafficking. It whitethorn besides radiance a airy connected malign overseas engagement by Iran, Russia, and China.

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Finally — and successful immoderate ways astir importantly — President Trump has flooded the loser syndrome. For years, China has told the satellite that America is simply a federation successful irreversible economical and motivation decline. We fought and mislaid everlastingly wars successful the Middle East. Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal was shambolic. We person been pushed astir by our enemies and disrespected by our allies. Our ain leaders person been corrupt, incompetent, and unresponsive.

That has present changed. Our system is astatine the starting gross of important growth. Trillions are being invested successful American manufacturing. Our exertion and vigor sectors are unleashed. We person the astir almighty and susceptible subject successful the world. Our leaders — particularly President Trump — are decisive, confident, and unafraid. More and much radical astatine location and overseas nary longer spot an America successful diminution but an America possibly poised for a caller Golden Age.

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