From: National Security Action
To: Interested Parties
Date: December 15, 2025 
Subject: Standing Up to Trump’s Reckless Campaign in Latin America

Summary: Despite growing bipartisan opposition from lawmakers in Washington, Donald Trump continues to expand his campaign of violence against alleged drug traffickers in Latin America – and intensify his pressure campaign aimed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The administration continues to launch strikes against alleged drug traffickers, including a widely-condemned “double-tap” strike to kill wounded survivors stranded at sea. Meanwhile, the administration has dramatically stepped up its efforts to exert pressure on Venezuela’s political leadership, underscored by the seizure of an oil tanker in the Caribbean and the imposition of sanctions on members of Maduro’s family. These moves come as Trump’s decision to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández – a convicted drug trafficker – raises fresh doubts about the campaign’s stated aims and true motivations.

On Capitol Hill, several Members of Congress have introduced new War Powers resolutions to stop Trump’s illegal strikes in the Caribbean and prevent war with Venezuela. These Members will seek to force votes on their privileged resolutions in the coming days and weeks. 

Polling: Public polling suggests that the American people do not fully understand – nor support – the Trump Administration’s broader campaign in Latin America. While public opinion remains mixed, National Security Action’s recent polling shows that Trump’s talk of expanding strikes into Venezuela may represent a significant turning point – offering a clear opportunity to make the case against his reckless foreign policy in advance of a vote. Even a more limited campaign outside of Venezuela loses support without Congressional authorization or the involvement of the American judicial system. 

  • Data For Progress: New polling finds that military action in Venezuela is unpopular, and that voters view this military action as less of a priority than increasing funding for health care and drug rehabilitation. 

    • 52% of voters do not think strikes against alleged drug boats is an effective way to reduce drug trafficking, and 86% of voters believe it is important for the U.S. to comply with international law.

    • 60% of voters oppose sending troops into Venezuela to remove Nicolas Maduro from power, and 55% of voters don’t trust the Trump Administration to make decisions about the use of force in Venezuela.

  • Reuters: Only 29% of Americans support using the U.S. military to kill suspected drug traffickers without a judge or court being involved, highlighting a potential vulnerability for the Trump Administration’s strategy.

  • CBS: 70% of Americans would oppose the United States taking military action in Venezuela, according to a recent poll conducted by CBS News and YouGov. However, Americans favor using military force to attack boats suspected of bringing drugs into the U.S. by a narrow margin (53-47). 

    • Across party lines, large majorities (76%) say the administration needs to better explain its intentions in Latin America, and that it has not done so clearly yet. Only one in five Americans have heard a lot about the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean.

    • Just 13% of Americans view Venezuela as a major threat to the U.S. Only 37% of voters believe military action in Venezuela would decrease the amount of drugs entering the United States. 

  • YouGov: Americans are more likely to approve than to disapprove of the U.S. military attacking boats containing suspected drug smugglers in international waters (50% vs. 39%), a November Economist/YouGov poll found. 

    • However, a plurality of Americans oppose the use of military force to overthrow Maduro: 45% are opposed, while only 17% are in favor of doing so. 

    • Only 15% of Americans – including 5% of Democrats and 29% of Republicans – view the situation in Venezuela as a “national emergency” for the U.S. 

Talking Points: 

  • Trump’s strikes are reckless – the kind of reckless military campaign Trump campaigned against and condemned as a “stupid war.” His actions risk entangling the United States in a conflict with no clear objective, no legal authorization, and no exit strategy – one with very real costs in lives lost, resources drained, and years spent dealing with the fallout.

  • This is presidential overreach, pure and simple. The Constitution is clear: Congress, not the president, has the power to authorize military force and declare war. Any effort by the Trump Administration to pursue military intervention inside another country without the consent of Congress would be yet another abuse of power by Trump and his enablers.

  • Trump’s campaign isn’t working. These airstrikes won’t meaningfully disrupt drug-trafficking – and Trump knows it. There’s no real strategy here, just spectacle. Bombing boats in the Caribbean doesn’t break up cartels or address the opioid crisis at home. We cannot bomb our way out of a public-health emergency. Real solutions require treatment, prevention, diplomacy, and cooperation with partners in the region.

  • This isn’t really about fighting drug traffickers. Trump’s purported desire to target drug traffickers is hard to take seriously when he issued a “full and complete” pardon to the former Honduran president convicted by a U.S. jury of running a complex and violent drug-trafficking conspiracy – working directly with cartel leaders like El Chapo. If Trump were serious about fighting traffickers, he wouldn’t be letting convicted ones walk free.

  • Donald Trump must step back from the brink, level with the American public, and pursue a legitimate, evidence-based strategy to confront the drug epidemic. What the country needs is smart policy rooted in facts – not attention-seeking escalation or back-door regime change.