Ledger · 2024 campaign · № 199

End the forever wars — instead, regime change in Venezuela

Broken
“[paraphrase] I will end the forever wars and keep us out of new ones.”
Promised
, Republican National Convention acceptance speech, Milwaukee
Re-promised
25 times with a fresh deadline
Topic
Foreign policy
Era
2024 campaign

What happened

In early January 2026 U.S. forces assaulted Caracas, capturing President Nicolás Maduro and his wife; 80 Venezuelan and Cuban citizens were killed by U.S. gunfire and airstrikes. Trump then said the U.S. would 'run' Venezuela's government for an indefinite period, with no stated plan for governing 28 million people. By September 2026 the administration had also ordered strikes in Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and Rep. Jason Crow introduced a war powers resolution to rein in the Venezuela operation.

Sources

  1. Trump's Venezuela Regime Change Attempt an Illegal Act of War Center for International Policy, Jan 15, 2026
  2. The List of Countries Trump Is Threatening With War Keeps Growing The Intercept, Jan 6, 2026
  3. Crow Introduces War Powers Resolution to Rein in Trump Military Action in Venezuela Office of Rep. Jason Crow, Jan 8, 2026
  4. Trump promised he'd end forever wars. Now he's starting one. Yahoo News / USA Today Opinion, Jan 10, 2026