DL Open Thread: Saturday, Jan. 3, 2025
While You Were Sleeping–Trump Invaded Venezuela and Arrested Maduro:
President Trump said on Saturday that the United States had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and was flying him out of Venezuela, in what would be a stunning culmination to a monthslong campaign by Mr. Trump’s administration to oust the authoritarian leader.
Mr. Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, his social media platform, and said that the United States had carried out “a large scale strike against Venezuela” in an operation that was conducted “in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.” He said that Mr. Maduro’s wife had also been captured.
Venezuelan officials said in statements that while a death and injury toll was still being assessed, Venezuelans had been killed in the strikes. A U.S. official said there had been no American casualties in the operation but would not comment on Venezuelan casualties.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times after the announcement, Mr. Trump celebrated the success of the mission to capture the Venezuelan president. “A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” he said. “It was a brilliant operation, actually.”
When asked if he had sought congressional authority for the operation or what is next for Venezuela, Mr. Trump said he would address those matters during a news conference at 11 a.m. at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Palm Beach, Fla.
So. Do we own Venezuela now? Or just the oil? Can someone please wake Chris Coons up? If this isn’t an act of war, I don’t know what is.
Trump’s recent statements refer to Venezuela’s 2007 nationalization of oil assets, including those from US firms like Exxon, which he describes as “stolen” from American interests. He has called for their return via posts on Truth Social in December 2025, framing it as reclaiming expropriated property to counter the Maduro regime. Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera, CNN.
While recently pursuing a favorite pastime – searching through Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings for publicly traded companies – I saw that Devin Nunes, the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group and others associated with Trump Media did a deal to purchase a publicly traded company Blue Water Acquisition Corp. III. I then saw that a few months prior to the deal the CEO of Blue Water, Joseph Hernandez, attempted an unsuccessful $10 billion bid to acquire the U.S. assets of Citgo Petroleum, which is majority owned by Venezuela. With Trump and his administration bombing boats in Venezuela and killing dozens of people in what some call war crimes fueled by oil interests, the latest Nunes and Trump Media related business caught my attention.
Since the Trump administration and Trump family businesses all have a somewhat loose definition of ‘conflicts of interest’ it will be interesting to see if Blue Water or any other Trump-linked businesses, show up in future opportunities to profit from the bombings in Venezuela. And even if not related to Venezuela, it will be interesting to see what business combination Blue Water Acquisition Corp. III pursues given its many links to Trump Media, which is majority owned by the U.S. president.
Like Swallows Returning To Capistrano:
Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) said on X that he had spoken with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who “informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States.” Maduro was indicted in 2020.
Lee, who had initially questioned how this attack was possible under U.S. law without the consent of Congress, did a quick 180, seemingly immediately satisfied with Rubio’s insistence that the “large scale strike” described by Trump was necessary to defend law enforcement. Other Republican members of Congress are falling in line this morning too.
At Least One Democratic Senator Speaks Out:
New Jersey senator Andy Kim, a Democrat, posted on X that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress.”
Sen. Kim accused Trump of rejected a “constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the Administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war.”
Kim, a former State Department employee under the Obama administration, Kim said the overnight strikes in Venezuela “doesn’t represent strength. It’s not sound foreign policy. It puts Americans at risk in Venezuela and the region, and it sends a horrible and disturbing signal to other powerful leaders across the globe that targeting a head of state is an acceptable policy for the US government.”
He warned that the strikes “will further damage our reputation – already hurt by Trump’s policies around the world – and only isolate us in a time when we need our friends and allies more than ever”.
Some Questions To Be Answered:
Christopher Sabatini, senior fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, has shared some analysis of the latest events in Venezuela and says attacks by the US have prompted many questions:
This isn’t a surprise. Though the narrative around the US rationale for the escalation and attacks off the coast of Venezuela has changed over time (anti-narcotics, removal of Maduro, regime change) this step was almost inevitable after the six-month escalation failed to generate internal dissent that could prompt Maduro’s removal or regime change.
It looks for now that the US focused on key military infrastructure: Tiuna Fort, an unoccupied military barracks, several airfields and bases. Will this be enough to provoke a regime change alone? Or will it need to continue. Frankly while some US special operations forces could land in Venezuela to support targeted strikes a full military invasion is unlikely. Can these strikes go on indefinitely?
According to surveys, US citizens are opposed to the use of its military in Venezuela. And any strikes inside Venezuela now will likely force a vote in Congress under the War Powers Act.
But assuming even if there is regime change-of some sort, and it’s by no means clear even if it does happen that it will be democratic-the US’s military action will likely require sustained US engagement of some sort. Will the Trump White House have the stomach for that?
I guess Trump’s invasion of US cities really was a test run for more military action. This time, with no pesky courts around to try to make Trump follow the law.
The NYTimes Editorial Gets It Right:
The nominal rationale for the administration’s military adventurism is to destroy “narco- terrorists.” Governments throughout history have labeled the leaders of rival nations as terrorists, seeking to justify military incursions as policing operations. The claim is particularly ludicrous in this case, given that Venezuela is not a meaningful producer of fentanyl or the other drugs that have dominated the recent epidemic of overdoses in the United States, and the cocaine that it does produce flows mostly to Europe. While Mr. Trump has been attacking Venezuelan boats, he also pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, who ran a sprawling drug operation when he was president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022.
A more plausible explanation for the attacks on Venezuela may instead be found in Mr. Trump’s recently released National Security Strategy. It claimed the right to dominate Latin America: “After years of neglect, the United States will reassert and enforce the Monroe Doctrine to restore American pre-eminence in the Western Hemisphere.” In what the document called the “Trump Corollary,” the administration vowed to redeploy forces from around the world to the region, stop traffickers on the high seas, use lethal force against migrants and drug runners and potentially base more U.S. troops around the region.
Venezuela has apparently become the first country subject to this latter-day imperialism, and it represents a dangerous and illegal approach to America’s place in the world. By proceeding without any semblance of international legitimacy, valid legal authority or domestic endorsement, Mr. Trump risks providing justification for authoritarians in China, Russia and elsewhere who want to dominate their own neighbors. More immediately, he threatens to replicate the American hubris that led to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
As a presidential candidate, Mr. Trump seemed to recognize the problems with military overreach. In 2016, he was the rare Republican politician to call out the folly of President George W. Bush’s Iraq war. In 2024, he said: “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars.”
He is now abandoning this principle, and he is doing so illegally. The Constitution requires Congress to approve any act of war. Yes, presidents often push the boundaries of this law. But even Mr. Bush sought and received congressional endorsement for his Iraq invasion, and presidents since Mr. Bush have justified their use of drone attacks against terrorist groups and their supporters with a 2001 law that authorized action after the Sept. 11 attacks. Mr. Trump has not even a fig leaf of legal authority for his attacks on Venezuela.
What do you want to talk about?
The Venezuelan mission is far too excessive to merely be a distraction from the Epstein files. It is overkill, pure and simple, by a megalomaniacal authoritarian who has no interest in anything other than self-gratification. Since we cannot expect Congress to rein in this narcissist’s crazy behavior, it may be time for our neighbors from the north to follow the words of the second Great Commandment: Do unto Trump what Trump has done to Maduro.
Trump Says That US Will ‘Run Venezuela’:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01/03/world/trump-united-states-strikes-venezuela
Presumably until the oil runs dry:
“President Trump said the United States would “run” Venezuela “until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” following the U.S. military operation that captured the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.
Mr. Trump offered few details about how the United States would oversee Venezuela, saying only that “a group” would do so. It was not clear whether that would involve an occupying military force, but Mr. Trump said he was not afraid of “boots on the ground.”
Mr. Trump spoke at length about American oil companies remaking the country’s energy infrastructure. Venezuela holds roughly 17 percent of the world’s oil reserves.”
This. Is. Insanity.
Jeezus, an egomaniac surrounded by billionaire enablers who convince him to to do their bidding. Stop the madness. How can the military follow his commands here? Where the f is our federal delegation?!?!
To all the little gen z bros who voted for this mutant….,
Enjoy the draft, Caleb! You freaks can play with your guns in Venezuela. See you in Dover soon.
At least Delaware’s federal Congressional delegation is standing strongly against this.
I think Chris Coons’ statement (at least what I saw) was not a strong stand against Trump. Trump owes US citizens more than “transparency and a clear strategy.” Trump has ignored every check and balance in the constitution. Other statements by Democratic Congress people were much stronger and pointed out how it is unconstitutional what Trump did and is doing.
If your statement was sarcasm I apologize. I am just so tired of Coons not coming out stronger against all the horrors that have happened. And his response letters to constituents’ concerns are mealy mouthed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vse0fS5mrMc
It was sarcasm, but your point holds.
His statement is a perfect illustration of how his brain is wired.
Socialism always fails (because, weird coincidence, the CIA infiltrate the government).
The Foreclosure of a Country – Delaware court connection –
“There is a glitch in the Venezuela story that most people are missing. The official line is that we captured a dictator to “restore democracy” and “stop drugs.” But those reasons don’t explain the timing. There is a $13 billion transaction happening right now that does. It’s called the Citgo Auction.
Most people don’t realize that Venezuela’s “crown jewel”—the massive Citgo refinery network—is being sold off in a Delaware court this month. It’s a forced liquidation to pay creditors, but the auction had been frozen for years by political chaos. The capture of Maduro didn’t just change the regime. It cleared the title so the sale could close”
The winning bidder isn’t an oil major or a democracy activist. It’s Amber Energy, an affiliate of Elliott Management. That is Paul Singer’s fund, the most feared “vulture capitalist” in the world, famous for seizing sovereign ships to collect old debts. He isn’t betting on freedom. He’s closing a distressed asset deal.
The timeline tells you everything you need to know. The sale to Elliott was approved by the court late last year, but it needed a “change in political circumstances” to finally clear regulatory hurdles. Maduro was the obstacle blocking the transfer. His capture on January 3rd wasn’t a police action. It was the final signature on the closing documents.
….The playbook is the same one private equity uses for a failing mall, just scaled up to a sovereign nation. You depress the asset value with sanctions, buy the debt for pennies on the dollar, and use the courts to force a liquidation. Then you send in the troops to evict the tenant so you can collect at face value. It’s a leveraged buyout with an air force.
If you look at who is getting paid, the “democracy” frame falls apart completely. It isn’t voters waiting in line; it’s a queue of corporate creditors like Crystallex, ConocoPhillips, and Siemens, with Elliott Management at the front. Marco Rubio isn’t representing a constituency here. He’s processing a payout. https://www.threads.com/@sir_terrynce/post/DTDqDjPD6py