Maga could quickly turn on Trump over Venezuela attack ...Middle East

SEATTLE – The question put to Donald Trump was straight to the point. Why, a journalist asked during his press conference on Saturday, was running a country in Latin America an example of “America First”.

The world was reeling from the news that US forces had launched a raid on Caracas and seized Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who they were bringing to New York to stand trial. Now, Trump was delivering another shock – that he intended for the US to run Venezuela “until such time we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”.

It was the kind of policy Trump has repeatedly told his supporters he would not pursue, and something for which he had attacked political opponents like Hillary Clinton and Liz Cheney – blasting their support of “forever wars” in the Middle East that cost many American lives and vast sums of money and offered nothing in the long-term.

In response, Trump said his actions were “America First” – the isolationist catchphrase used by many of his supporters – because “we want to surround ourselves with stability… We want to surround ourselves with energy. We have tremendous energy in that country.”

Venezuela’s oil represents around 7 per cent of the planet’s known reserves. After US forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, Trump famously tweeted: “I still can’t believe we left Iraq without the oil.” This time, he said, there would be no repeat of that error. “We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground,” he said.

He said the money would go to Venezuelans, but also American oil companies and “to the United States of America in the form of reimbursement for the damages caused us”.

However, Trump’s actions have already triggered a pushback from some of his previously loyal supporters.

Outgoing congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who broke with Trump over the Epstein files as well as Trump’s support of Israel and failure to focus on domestic issues, was scathing. “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end,” she wrote on X.

She added: “Americans’ disgust with our own government’s never-ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties… keep the Washington military machine funded and going.”

Steven Bannon warned that the US could repeat the mistakes of Iraq, while Tucker Carlson has previously said that Trump was surrounding himself with neocons interested in regime change.

Senator Rand Paul, a Republican who has long opposed US military intervention, said few would “mourn the removal of Nicolas Maduro from power” but added that “time will tell if regime change in Venezuela is successful without significant monetary or human cost… our founders limited the executive’s power to go to war without Congressional authorisation for a reason – to limit the horror of war and limit war to acts of defence.”

A poll released last month by Quinnipiac University found that 63 per cent of Americans opposed military action inside Venezuela, with just 25 per cent saying they supported it.

But since the raid on Friday night, most elected Republicans have at least publicly supported Trump’s actions, while Democrats have come out against them, claiming a clear breach of international law.

There is a phrase in the US that refers to the “Pottery Barn Rule”, an adage mentioned often by George W Bush’s Secretary of State Colin Powell. It refers to the popular US high street chain’s signs that state that if a customer breaks something, they must pay for it.

After Trump said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth would be running Venezuela, at least in the short term, many commentators turned to the phrase to remind Trump that his actions were unleashing all sorts unknown challenges – be it the strength or intentions of Venezuela’s armed forces, or the danger posed by armed militia who remain loyal to Maduro.

Trump does not seem to care about any of this: the human or financial cost, the chaos or the prospect of American troops potentially being bogged down in another long and costly military campaign.

But many of Trump’s most ardent supporters care deeply about being dragged into another major operation overseas, and this ought to worry him.

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Pointedly, while Trump has largely stayed closely in tune with the concerns of his supporters, at times – as with the Epstein files – he has appeared tone deaf. He is gambling Venezuela is an issue that his supporters will not break from him on. If they do, it could be very bad for Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

Often when the US engages in military action overseas, the then-President sees a bump in support. In the aftermath of 9/11, Bush saw his approval rating soar to 90 per cent. However, that did not last long. After his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq quickly turned to chaos, Bush’s popularity tumbled. Trump would do well to remember this.

“America First” has become heavily linked with Trump – but when it comes to Venezuela, it could come back to bite him.

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