Ben Shapiro / US Military Intervention in Venezuela 2026 / 2026-01-03

Position

“Trump's Venezuela coup is a masterstroke that ends the Iraq syndrome - the paralyzing mindset that has distorted American foreign policy for two decades. Trump has shown you can use military force with a light touch, restore American deterrence, and avoid quagmire. It was not 'globo homo' that ousted Maduro - it was a conservative Republican president.”

Contributing sources

[interview] Ben Reacts: The U.S. Takes Down Maduro — 2026-01-03[article] Masterstroke: Trump's Venezuela Coup Ends The Iraq Syndrome — 2026-01-07[interview] Ep. 2339 - 2026 SHOCK: Trump DEPOSES Maduro! — 2026-01-07[article] Ben Shapiro Calls Out Tucker Carlson's Claim 'Globo Homo' People Wanted Venezuela's Maduro Ousted — 2026-01-04

Position from 2026-01-03

venezuela-narco-threatMed

Venezuela under Maduro operates as a narcoterrorist state that directly threatens American security through drug trafficking, alliances with Hezbollah, and harboring of criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua

Their wording: “Maduro's removal is good for America - oil resources, immigration, geopolitical alliances all benefit the US”

Shapiro accepts the narcoterrorist framing but emphasizes the practical benefits to the US rather than the threat narrative alone

Also held by (6)
Lindsey Graham — Graham frames Venezuela as a direct security threat through its drug trafficking, Hezbollah alliance, and Russian partnershipNikki Haley — Haley emphasizes the authoritarian and criminal character of the regime as justification for its removalMarco Rubio — Rubio has consistently pushed for designating Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism and has emphasized the regime's connections to drug trafficking as a direct threat to American communities. This framing transforms Venezuela from a distant humanitarian concern into a proximate security threatDonald Trump — Trump connects Venezuelan migration and drug trafficking directly to his core domestic issue of border security, making Venezuela a homeland security threat rather than a foreign policy concern. This framing bridges his 'America First' domestic agenda with military intervention abroadJD Vance — Vance combines the narco-terrorism justification with the oil recovery claim, presenting both as legitimate grounds for actionMatt Walsh — Walsh treats Venezuela as a problem to be eliminated, not a complex geopolitical situation - the narcoterrorist framing provides sufficient justification
Incompatible with (1)
“The narcoterrorism and democracy framings of the US intervention in Venezuela are pretextual - the primary motivation is access to Venezuelan oil reserves and geopolitical control of the Western Hemisphere”High

held by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Tucker Carlson, Stephen Colbert, Glenn Greenwald, Jimmy Kimmel, Douglas Macgregor, John Mearsheimer, Hasan Piker, Scott Ritter, Jon Stewart, Cenk Uygur

us-hemispheric-dominanceLow

The United States has the right and strategic interest to dominate the Western Hemisphere and remove hostile regimes in its backyard

Their wording: “Trump has applied this doctrine twice: first with strikes on Iran's Fordow, then with the ouster of Maduro”

Shapiro frames both interventions as part of a coherent doctrine of American power projection that restores deterrence globally

Also held by (7)
Nick Fuentes — Fuentes embraces American imperial power projection as an end in itself - the US takes what it wants from weaker nations without obligation to those nations' peopleLindsey Graham — Graham sees the Western Hemisphere as the US backyard where hostile regimes must be replaced with US-aligned ones - Venezuela first, then CubaNikki Haley — Haley frames Venezuela as a node in a network of hostile hemispheric regimes, with removing Maduro creating a domino effect that destabilizes CubaMarco Rubio — Rubio frames Venezuelan regime change as essential to preventing great power rivals from establishing strategic positions in the Western Hemisphere, linking it to broader competition with Russia and China and invoking historical US hegemonic frameworksDonald Trump — Trump explicitly invokes Monroe Doctrine logic, treating Venezuelan alliances with Iran, Russia, and China as a direct security threat requiring US military response. The same hemispheric dominance premise underpins both his Greenland and Venezuela positionsJD Vance — Vance explicitly frames the goal as US economic control over Venezuela - not liberation, democratization, or counter-narcoticsMatt Walsh — Walsh holds hemispheric dominance as an end in itself - US power projection is inherently good if it benefits Americans, regardless of legality or sovereignty concerns
Incompatible with (2)
“National sovereignty is inviolable under international law; no state has the right to militarily intervene in another state or abduct its leader, regardless of that government's character”Med

held by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Joe Biden, Tucker Carlson, Tulsi Gabbard, Jackson Hinkle, John Mearsheimer, Gavin Newsom, Candace Owens, Scott Ritter, Bernie Sanders, Jon Stewart, Cenk Uygur

“US foreign military intervention is an extension of American imperialism and hegemonic maintenance”Low

held by Aaron Bastani, Brian Berletic, Tucker Carlson, Noam Chomsky, Stephen Colbert, Glenn Greenwald, Jackson Hinkle, Jimmy Kimmel, John Mearsheimer, Alexander Mercouris, John Oliver, Candace Owens, Hasan Piker, Scott Ritter, Richard Spencer, Cenk Uygur

maduro-illegitimateHigh

Nicolás Maduro is an illegitimate leader who fraudulently claimed victory in the July 2024 presidential election despite losing to Edmundo González by a wide margin

Their wording: “If some sort of covert CIA action were to topple the regime in Venezuela, that would be a good thing”

Shapiro acknowledges opposing a full-scale ground invasion but supports regime change through lighter means, citing Maduro's illegitimacy

Also held by (7)
Joe Biden — Biden continued the US policy of recognizing Maduro as illegitimate, consistent with the Trump-era recognition of Guaidó and the overwhelming evidence of the July 2024 electoral fraud. However, Biden drew a different policy conclusion: illegitimacy justified pressure, not invasion.Nick Fuentes — Fuentes's initial support for the strike presupposes Maduro was an illegitimate leader worth removingLindsey Graham — Graham uses Maduro's stolen 2024 election and authoritarian rule to frame regime change as liberation rather than invasionNikki Haley — Haley implicitly references the stolen 2024 election and broader democratic regression to frame regime change as restorationMarco Rubio — Rubio was among the first US officials to recognize Juan Guaido in 2019 and has been the most persistent congressional voice on Venezuelan democratic legitimacy. The 2024 election fraud, widely documented by international observers, validated his decade-long position that the Maduro regime rules through force rather than consentDonald Trump — Trump recognized opposition leader Juan Guaidó in his first term (2019) and continues to treat Maduro as an illegitimate ruler. The July 2024 election, widely assessed as fraudulent, reinforces this premiseMatt Walsh — The celebration of regime removal implicitly requires the target to be illegitimate; without this, the position would celebrate overthrowing a legitimate government