Trump’s MAGA allies mostly rally behind his Venezuela strike

By Eric Bradner, CNN

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s allies in the Republican Party and his Make America Great Again movement — even some who previously warned against wading into new foreign conflicts — largely rallied behind his actions in Venezuela on Saturday, hours after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro in a large-scale military operation.

Trump faced criticism from some conservatives who worried he was straying from his “America First” pledges, as well as from Democrats who questioned the legality of his move and his long-term strategy. But most Republicans, including leaders on Capitol Hill, hawkish figures who have sometimes criticized Trump’s foreign policy positions, conservatives in South Florida, and influencers within his political movement, backed the president on Saturday.

GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina praised Trump’s action, writing on social media: “We will be more prosperous and safer for it. I am hoping and praying that the Venezuelan people will soon have a fresh start on democracy and freedom.”

But he cautioned that the United States should turn over control of Venezuela quickly.

“The President is correct to counsel patience. We have to get this right. But the sooner Venezuela is put back in the hands of the Venezuelan people, the better,” Graham said.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has long opposed US military intervention, wrote on social media that “few Venezuelans, or Americans for that matter, will or should mourn the removal of Nicolas Maduro from power.”

Paul, who has co-sponsored a bipartisan measure that would block Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela, did not overtly criticize Trump’s actions but stressed the importance of limits to the president’s powers in such cases.

“Time will tell if regime change in Venezuela is successful without significant monetary or human cost. Best though, not to forget, that our founders limited the executive’s power to go to war without Congressional authorization for a reason — to limit the horror of war and limit war to acts of defense,” he said.

Those questions about what happens next mean the broader political consequences are far from clear, as Trump’s claim that the United States will “run” Venezuela during a transitional period raised the prospect of long-lasting and far-reaching US military actions in Latin America. Trump doubled down on that perception when he described Cuba as “very similar” and “something we’ll end up talking about,” and told reporters that Colombia’s president needs to “watch his ass.”

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah initially sounded critical of Trump’s actions in Venezuela, writing just after 3 a.m. ET Saturday that he looked forward “to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force.”

However, he later wrote that he’d been briefed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and said: “This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack.”

Trump’s sphere of MAGA influencers also rallied behind his move in Venezuela. Steve Bannon, the populist former top Trump strategist and “War Room” podcast host, called the operation “bold and brilliant.”

Meanwhile, South Florida Republicans hailed Maduro’s removal as a momentous development.

Rep. Carlos Gimenez, the Cuban-born former mayor of Miami-Dade County, wrote on X that Trump’s move “is this hemisphere’s equivalent to the Fall of the Berlin Wall.”

“It’s a big day in Florida, where the majority of Venezuelan, Cuban, & Nicaraguan exiles reside. This is the community I represent & we are overwhelmed with emotion and hope,” he said.

What MAGA ‘thought they voted to end’

On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump long criticized previous presidents’ actions in the Middle East and pledged an “America First” foreign policy. He also claimed to possess extraordinary powers to end foreign conflicts, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will settle the war in Ukraine before I even take office; I’ll settle it as president-elect,” he said at a rally a month before the election.

A Quinnipiac University poll last month, conducted amid increasing scrutiny of US military attacks that killed alleged drug smugglers at sea, found that 63% of voters opposed US military action inside Venezuela, while just 25% — including 4% of Democrats, 52% of Republicans and 19% of independents — supported it.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a longtime Trump ally who in recent months has turned against the president, was sharply critical of Trump on social media Saturday — just days before her planned departure from the House.

“This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end,” she wrote. “Boy were we wrong.”

Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a conservative Republican who is often at odds with Trump, questioned the legal grounds for the president’s actions, and said Trump’s words were starkly opposed to the more careful comments of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who described the charges Maduro and his wife would face.

“Meanwhile Trump announces he’s taken over the country and will run it until he finds someone suitable to replace him. Added bonus: says American oil companies will get to exploit the oil,” Massie wrote sarcastically on X.

He also wrote that the Justice Department’s 25-page indictment of Maduro contained “no mention of fentanyl or stolen oil. Search it for yourself.”

Candace Owens, the conservative podcaster who has feuded with other MAGA figures over her promotion of conspiracy theories and antisemitic tropes, said on X: “Venezuela has been ‘liberated’ like Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq were ‘liberated’. The CIA has staged another hostile takeover of a country at the behest of a [sic] globalist psychopaths.”

‘A new day for the Americas’

Still, many Republicans who haven’t closely aligned themselves with Trump held their fire on Saturday.

Indiana Sen. Todd Young wrote on X: “We still need more answers, especially to questions regarding the next steps in Venezuela’s transition. As Congress returns to Washington next week, I am eager to work with members of the Trump Administration to bring clarity to the situation.”

And even some of Trump’s leading Republican critics said Maduro’s removal was positive.

Nikki Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations who ran against Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, wrote on X that Maduro “oppressed his people to enrich himself and his cronies” and said he “kept the Cuban dictatorship afloat with stolen oil.”

“The Venezuelan people deserve freedom, and we should pray this moment marks a new day for the Americas,” Haley said.

Former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, among the loudest Republican critics of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, said on X that Maduro’s arrest “was the right call.”

“May Maduro face justice and the people of Venezuela be free,” Kinzinger said.

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