No, you didn’t imagine it—and no, this wasn’t satire.
I’ll be honest: this wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card. The Washington Post—yes, that Washington Post—publishing a rational, clear-eyed editorial that didn’t reflexively bash President Donald Trump? And not only that, but praising one of his actions? Stranger things have happened, but not many.
For decades now, the WaPo has functioned as a reliable megaphone for the Democrat establishment, faithfully toeing the progressive line with the discipline of a Swiss honor guard. So when news broke that Trump’s Operation Absolute Resolve successfully extracted former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from his safe house in the early hours of January 3 and delivered him to New York to face federal charges, expectations were low—very low.
One would naturally assume the editorial board would unleash a scorched-earth condemnation: abuse of power, violation of international law, democracy in danger, insert buzzwords here. Instead, Democrats everywhere were forced to do a double take.
In a Saturday editorial, the Washington Post editorial board wrote:
“President Donald Trump’s decision to capture him on Saturday was one of the boldest moves a president has made in years, and the operation was an unquestionable tactical success.”
Read that again. Slowly. Yes, the WaPo just called a Trump operation bold and an unquestionable success. Somewhere, a D.C. staffer fainted onto a reusable tote bag.
Fox News media critic Joe Concha was quick to point out what this moment really exposes: the performative outrage from Democrats suddenly clutching their pearls over “abuse of power” isn’t nearly as principled as advertised. When even their own media institutions can’t deny reality, the talking points start to wobble.
Now, let’s be clear—no one on the right is suddenly handing out trust badges to the Washington Post. That would be naïve at best. These outlets still wield enormous influence, whether conservatives like it or not, and they’ve spent years trying to undermine a duly elected president at every turn. That hasn’t changed.
But here’s the thing: if even one of the legacy media giants steps away—briefly—from knee-jerk partisanship and acknowledges success when it’s staring them in the face, that’s not a bad thing for the country. It means reality broke through, if only for a moment.
And make no mistake, if you actually want consistent, unfiltered reporting without the progressive spin cycle, outlets like RedState and other Townhall properties remain the place to go. The legacy press still buries more than it reports.
Still, for one day—just one—it was oddly refreshing to see a major left-leaning outlet not simply recycle Chuck Schumer’s talking points and instead admit the obvious: Trump acted decisively, the operation worked, and a dictator is now facing justice.
If nothing else, it proves one thing—results are hard to argue with.
