Donald Trump Is Stumbling Into a Crisis in Venezuela
Donald Trump is escalating a dangerous confrontation in Venezuela. He has ordered unprecedented strikes against alleged drug traffickers, deployed major military assets to the region, and openly threatened further action – even strikes inside Venezuela. The risks are immense: another disastrous war, destabilization across Latin America, and devastating consequences for Venezuelans and Americans alike. Every American should be concerned about Trump’s dangerous actions. Here’s why:
This isn’t just about drugs. After exerting maximum pressure to force Maduro to step down during his first term, Trump is now upping the ante with military action. Branding Maduro a “narcoterrorist” is simply a pretext for Trump to push for regime change – something the administration has identified as an underlying objective: “The preferred course of action is for Maduro to leave on his own, to read the tea leaves. And then I think the message is ‘Do you want it to be easy or do you want it to be hard?’”
This is a dangerous escalation that could spiral out of control. Far from making Americans safer, Trump’s military intervention puts American servicemembers in danger and risks igniting a disastrous conflict close to home – which could cost billions of dollars, destabilize the region, or even lead to a refugee crisis. We cannot allow Donald Trump to unilaterally drag us into a conflict that the American people don’t support.
Trump has no plan for the “day after.” When strikes against traffickers don’t resolve drug flows, what’s next? Blockading oil, bombing infrastructure, or expanding the conflict into other countries like Nicaragua and Mexico? Furthermore, forcing out Maduro would likely trigger chaos – guerrilla warfare, drug-funded violence, mass migration. Where does this end for Trump? It’s not clear he has a strategy to prevent this conflict from spiraling out of control.
We can’t take this administration at its word. Trump’s military strikes are based on shifting narratives and inconclusive intelligence. The administration’s credibility is already in tatters – and now they’re asking the American people to take them at their word while they inch closer to a direct conflict with Venezuela. The United States has an unfortunate history of stumbling into wars on false pretenses and harmful interventions in Latin America. Before any further attacks, Americans deserve an honest conversation about what’s really at stake.
Trump’s attacks put innocent lives at risk. The Trump Administration has indicated more military strikes on drug targets could be coming, and threatened to “wage war” on cartels in Latin America, disregarding the deadly lessons of past interventions in the War on Drugs. Prior efforts to target drug traffickers in Latin America have collapsed after mistakenly killing civilians – including an American missionary and her daughter, and innocent bystanders. Why should we believe these strikes will be any different?
Talking Points:
Donald Trump is using the pretext of fighting cartels to look tough and escalate his long-standing push to oust Maduro. And he’s justifying these strikes with shifting narratives and inconclusive intelligence – all while ordering further attacks that risk civilian casualties and violate the rule of law.
His reckless escalation risks dragging America into another war, sparking a refugee crisis, and costing U.S. taxpayers billions – without actually making Americans safer. Worse yet, Donald Trump has no real plan for what comes next.
We all want to stop drug trafficking – but the American people deserve real solutions, not reckless airstrikes. Trump’s strikes aren’t a silver bullet that will end the drug crisis. They just risk dragging us into yet another war.
Published: September 2025