President Donald Trump’s courageous decision to arrest and bring to justice Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro for drug-related crimes is far bigger than Operation Absolute Resolve itself. It resets the global chessboard. Here are ten reasons why.
First, the Venezuelan operation proves that U.S. military and intelligence capabilities are not only better than anyone else’s, but that they operate in an entirely different dimension.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has thrown his entire army into Ukraine in hopes of establishing Russian dominance and assassinating President Volodymyr Zelensky. The bloody war has dragged on for three years, cost hundreds of thousands of lives, hundreds of billions of dollars and drained both countries. And yet the war continues.
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President Trump sent a small group of special forces to Caracas. Within three hours, they had captured President Maduro and his wife and transported them to New York to face trial in U.S. court. No Americans were killed.
Operation Absolute Resolve, like Operation Midnight Hammer, which destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities within hours, was carefully planned, flawlessly executed and 100% successful. No one but America could do that – and leaders around the world know it.
Second, as President Trump says, if you kill Americans, you will be held accountable. Maduro and the drug cartels have killed tens of thousands of Americans with drugs. Not only have we now secured our borders and stopped the flow of fentanyl, but we are also ensuring that drug cartel leaders – including the Maduro family – face justice.
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Third, President Trump just undid decades of failed American foreign policy. For years, American leaders of both parties ignored the importance of the Western Hemisphere. They rejected the growing threats from the countries themselves and from anti-American powers trying to gain a foothold in our hemisphere. American leaders turned a blind eye to drug smuggling and human trafficking. The Biden administration has actively encouraged a massive invasion across our border by illegal aliens for its own political purposes.
Operation Absolute Resolve, like Operation Midnight Hammer, which destroyed Iran’s nuclear capabilities within hours, was carefully planned, flawlessly executed and 100% successful. No one but America could do that – and leaders around the world know it.
While we focused on the forever wars in the Middle East and the dogma of climate change, three groups moved into South and Central America: the Chinese, the cartels and the communists.
Trump’s new national security strategy puts the Western Hemisphere at the center of our foreign policy. Trump allies and reformers now rule Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and El Salvador – and possibly Venezuela. His long-term vision is a North and South America united by similar economic and governance systems, working in harmony toward peace and prosperity.
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Fourth, President Trump has reinstated the Monroe Doctrine, which bans foreign powers from operating in the Western Hemisphere. Two hundred years ago, President Monroe warned European powers against interfering in America. Sixty years ago, President Kennedy used the Monroe Doctrine to keep Soviet missiles out of Cuba. Forty years ago, President Reagan used it to prevent the Soviet Union from establishing military bases in the Caribbean. The Monroe Doctrine was a fundamental tenet of American foreign policy, establishing the Western Hemisphere as an American zone of influence.
The Obama administration has abandoned the Monroe Doctrine. Secretary of State John Kerry unilaterally declared it dead. The Biden administration also abandoned the Monroe Doctrine by looking the other way, while Russia, China and Iran gained a foothold in several countries.
By sending the American armada to the Caribbean, President Trump reinstated the Monroe Doctrine, declaring: “American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never again be questioned.”
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The new Monroe Doctrine is not an attempt to control our neighbors to the south; it is meant to keep evil forces out.
Fifth, President Trump is using not just military power, but all aspects of American power—especially trade, finance, and technology—to influence world events. Before sending special forces to capture Maduro, Trump exerted enormous economic pressure on Venezuela. Maduro relied on a ghost fleet of unregistered tankers to illegally ship oil abroad, especially to China.
These transactions were sanctioned, but never enforced. Oil sales earned Maduro about $200 million a week, which he used to bribe and blackmail Venezuelan kleptocrats and pay his military. President Trump enforced those sanctions and seized the oil tankers. By cutting off his main source of funding, it was only a matter of time before Maduro would run out of money.
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Sixth, critics are quick to accuse Trump of the policies he once criticized: regime change, nation building, and perpetual wars. They’re wrong. President Trump has learned from the failures of the past – he does not want to repeat them. President George W. Bush overthrew the Iraqi and Afghan governments, dismissed government technocrats, and imposed American occupations that were doomed from the start. He tried to impose Western-style democracies on countries that were neither suited for them nor wanted them. He has trapped us in decades of wars we could not win, with enormous losses of blood and treasure.
President Obama made the opposite mistake. He helped topple dictators during the Arab Spring, but then walked away from the ensuing chaos under the misguided assumption that these countries would immediately embrace democracy on their own.
President Bush tried to do too much. President Obama did too little. Both failed.
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If critics had listened carefully to President Trump’s press conferences and statements, they would realize that he wants to take a different course. Trump said the US would “govern” Venezuela until administration could be handed over to the Venezuelans. That’s a far cry from decades of occupation and nation building.
Federal law enforcement personnel stand guard outside the Metropolitan Detention Center as they await the arrival of jailed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in New York. (Yuki Iwamura/AP)
Until Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, took power, Venezuela had a long tradition of democracy, with regular elections, a free press and an independent judiciary. Trump is not trying to rule Venezuela forever. He is already negotiating with the remaining members of the Maduro government and political opposition groups for a smooth and rapid transfer of power to the Venezuelan people, under US supervision.
Seventh, the oil. The future, both in manufacturing and artificial intelligence, belongs to countries with technological superiority and cheap, abundant energy resources. Venezuela has the largest known oil reserves in the world, but needs investment to modernize production. American companies have a long history of working with Venezuelan oil companies, and we can do so again. It will be a win-win situation for the US and Venezuela.
But there is a secondary effect of increased Venezuelan oil production: over time, it will lower global prices. Russia and Iran depend on oil sales to finance their governments. More oil worldwide means lower prices, which means less income for our enemies.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro gestures next to his wife Cilia Flores as they leave the Capitolio, home of the National Assembly, after taking the oath of office during the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 10, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
Eighth, corrupt, incompetent, America-hating dictators should take note. With American help, Maduro is now gone. If the United States and Venezuela together succeed in establishing a new government that restores capitalism and democracy, they will succeed.
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If so, could Venezuela be the spark that ignites other democratic reform movements? Cuba is kept alive by Maduro’s drug money. What happens when that money runs out? What happens to the pro-Maduro Colombian government once a new Venezuelan government is formed?
Ninth, the world will now see for itself what the American legal system looks like. Maduro will be tried in the US, in a public courtroom, as the world watches. The Justice Department has spent years building a solid case against Maduro for narcoterrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering. It will show Maduro’s personal connections to drug cartels and human trafficking. It could also shed light on the malign foreign involvement of Iran, Russia and China.
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Finally – and in some ways most importantly – President Trump has overcome loser syndrome. For years, China has told the world that America is a nation in irreversible economic and moral decline. We fought and lost wars in the Middle East forever. Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was disorderly. We have been pushed around by our enemies and disrespected by our allies. Our own leaders have been corrupt, incompetent and insensitive.
That has now changed. Our economy is on the verge of significant growth. Trillions are being invested in American manufacturing. Our technology and energy sectors are being unleashed. We have the most powerful and capable military in the world. Our leaders – especially President Trump – are decisive, confident and unafraid. More and more people at home and abroad no longer see an America in decline, but an America that may be ready for a new Golden Age.
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