Congressional Democrats erupted in outrage Saturday following President Donald Trump’s overnight military operation in Venezuela that led to the successful capture and indictment of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife. While Republicans praised the decisive action, Democrats predictably argued the president lacked legal authority and claimed the operation ran counter to U.S. interests — even as a major narco-regime was dismantled. Same complaints, different day.
Several Democratic lawmakers insisted Trump needed congressional approval to act and portrayed the operation as reckless. Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, who reportedly has presidential ambitions, wasted no time posting on X just after 3 a.m. “Second unjustified war in my lifetime,” he wrote, calling the operation “illegal” and claiming the U.S. had gone from “world cop to world bully.” Notably absent from his post: any mention of Maduro’s indictment or cartel ties.
New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth of misleading Congress about the administration’s intentions. “Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change,” Kim wrote on X. He also claimed the operation put Americans at risk, despite a U.S. official telling The New York Times there were no casualties.
Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz echoed the talking points, asserting that the U.S. has “no vital national interests in Venezuela to justify war.” Of course, the Trump administration has repeatedly pointed to Maduro’s cartel, designated as a terrorist organization, and its role in flooding the United States with deadly drugs — but that inconvenient detail rarely makes it into Democratic outrage posts.
House Democrats joined in as well, criticizing what they described as the most direct U.S. military intervention in Latin America since 1989. Connecticut Rep. Jim McGovern complained on X, “He says we don’t have enough money for healthcare for Americans—but somehow we have unlimited funds for war??” A familiar line, even when the operation was targeted, swift, and successful.
Republicans, particularly those representing Florida’s large Venezuelan exile community, had a very different reaction. Rep. Carlos Gimenez thanked Trump for “changing the course of history in our hemisphere,” calling it a historic day for Florida and for Venezuelan, Cuban, and Nicaraguan exiles who fled socialist regimes. Florida Sen. Rick Scott declared, “A new day is here for Venezuela and Latin America,” crediting Trump’s leadership for making the hemisphere safer.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee also weighed in, stating that Trump likely had clear legal authority to conduct the operation under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from imminent threats. After speaking with Rubio, Lee added that U.S. military action in Venezuela was likely complete with Maduro’s seizure — mission accomplished.
President Trump, never one to mince words, summed it up succinctly in a Saturday morning interview with Fox News. “All they do is complain,” he said of Democrats. “They should say, ‘You know what. We did a great job.’ We’re stopping drugs from coming into this country and no one’s been able to do it until we came along.”
While Democrats argue semantics and posture for social media, the reality is undeniable: a cartel-backed dictator is in custody, American interests are protected, and Venezuelans have a real chance at a better future. Strong leadership produced real results — and that’s something worth ending on a positive note.
