{"id":498041,"date":"2026-01-07T04:04:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T04:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/498041\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T04:04:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T04:04:28","slug":"trump-voters-weigh-in-on-us-seizure-of-maduro-in-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/498041\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump voters weigh in on US seizure of Maduro in Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s only been days since an audacious U.S. raid snatched Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> from a Venezuelan military base and sped him to a Brooklyn prison, yet Detroit-area Trump supporter Aaron Tobin can already see it all playing out on the big screen.<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be the subject of movies for years to come, he predicts. \u201cI am thrilled.\u201d Plenty of others who voted for President Donald Trump and spoke to The Associated Press about the raid are applauding, too \u2014 at least for now. <\/p>\n

The seizure of Venezuela\u2019s authoritarian leader and his wife has forced another reckoning on the \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d coalition, already rocked by the Trump administration\u2019s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files<\/a> and strained by rising health insurance premiums<\/a> and living costs.<\/p>\n

Trump promised his voters that \u201cAmerica First\u201d would stand against more foreign entanglements. Instead, he intervened with force and without congressional approval in a new frontier, a South American capital so far from Washington that Google Maps says it \u201ccan\u2019t seem to find a way there.\u201d <\/p>\n

The geopolitical action film that Tobin sees in his mind is only at its opening scene, before all the complexities of uprooting a foreign government by a U.S. president\u2019s fiat come rushing in. U.S. forces entered and exited swiftly. But what happens next?<\/p>\n

Trump finds early but not endless support<\/p>\n

Early on, the pushback from congressional Republicans and Trump\u2019s core constituencies has been guarded, in contrast to their uproar over the Epstein episode or the tensions coursing through Republican politics over the now-expired health insurance subsidies.<\/p>\n

Against that backdrop, Trump voters interviewed by AP journalists around the country praised the operation and expressed faith in Trump\u2019s course. But not always limitless faith. They did not all back up Trump\u2019s claim that those who \u201cvoted for me are thrilled. They said, \u2018This is what we voted for.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI support him so far,\u201d Paul Bonner, 67, told AP while browsing at a Trump merchandise store in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. \u201cUntil he messes up, I support him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s apparent willingness to stay involved in Venezuela and his intensifying rhetoric about expanding U.S. power elsewhere in the hemisphere are making some of his die-hard supporters nervous. <\/p>\n

Not all of them are reaching for the popcorn yet.<\/p>\n

In Mississippi, a conflicted Trump voter<\/p>\n

Chase Lewis, 24, of Philadelphia, Mississippi, said the move caught him off guard and he still isn\u2019t sure whether he supports it. \u201cIt\u2019s good that they\u2019re finally freed from that dictatorship,\u201d he said of Venezuelans, \u201cbut I don\u2019t know what it\u2019s going to cost us.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI don\u2019t want my friends that are serving right now to be dragged into a war because we went and stuck our nose in Venezuela\u2019s business.\u201d He noted that Trump had campaigned against starting new wars. \u201cDepending on how you look at it,\u201d he said, \u201cthis was an act of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

An electrician apprentice who gave up his delivery job because he needed to make more money, Lewis said he wants to see the Trump administration focus on bringing down costs for young people like himself. He also wants the president to make life better for veterans and worries about plunging the country into more conflicts.<\/p>\n

In Colorado, cheers and caution from Trump voters<\/p>\n

To Trump voter Travis Garcia, leaning against his red pickup truck on a chilly evening in Castle Rock, Colorado, it\u2019s a slam-dunk. \u201cOf course I\u2019m going to be happy that they captured a dictator that\u2019s constantly sending drugs our way,\u201d he said, \u201cIf we\u2019re not gonna do it, who\u2019s gonna do it?\u201d<\/p>\n

The 45-year-old, who works in remodeling, said the operation reinforces Trump\u2019s stature as \u201ca powerful man who follows through on his word and isn\u2019t going to be shy and timid and let other countries run the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary Lussier, 48, a flight attendant from the town of Larkspur, was so amazed by the success of the mission in Venezuela that she would be OK with more such operations. She recalled videos of Venezuelans tearfully celebrating Maduro\u2019s removal and said fewer bad leaders \u201cwould make the world a little bit lesser of a bad place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Lussier wouldn\u2019t want U.S. soldiers stuck in a prolonged conflict, and much of her admiration for the operation hinged less on the possible benefits to the U.S. than on the smooth efficiency and bravado of the raiders.<\/p>\n

Outside a Safeway grocery store in Castle Rock, Patrick McCans, 66, said delicately that Trump\u2019s intervention was \u201ca little contrary to what he campaigned on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see more of a diplomatic way of making change,\u201d said the retired engineer. Still, he said, pondering for a moment, \u201cI think in this case it might have been warranted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of playing ball, Maduro was \u201cplaying chicken with Trump, and Trump doesn\u2019t like chicken,\u201d he said, chuckling from beneath a Baltimore Ravens baseball cap.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Trump supporters interviewed by AP all applauded the military operation\u2019s smoothness and \u201cclass,\u201d as one described it. But that support could waver if the U.S. is drawn into a longer conflict, which none of them would support. <\/p>\n

Few mentioned Trump\u2019s plans for Venezuela\u2019s oil, but thought Maduro\u2019s removal would benefit citizens and slow the drug trade and immigration to the U.S.<\/p>\n

From Pennsylvania: Good riddance to Maduro<\/p>\n

At the Golden Dawn Diner in Levittown, Pennsylvania, Ron Soto, 88, expressed unreserved faith in the president\u2019s ability to manage what comes next. The retired tractor-trailer driver regularly visits the diner to meet friends, drink coffee and catch up.<\/p>\n

Maduro is an \u201cawful man,\u201d he said. But should U.S. forces go into other countries, like Cuba, as it did in Venezuela? \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019ll have to,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause he (Trump) put the fear in them.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Trump\u2019s comment at one point that his administration would \u201crun\u201d Venezuela, Soto said the president will \u201cstraighten that country out and make it into a democracy if he can. I don\u2019t know if he can.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Neshaminy Mall, in Bensalem, retired firefighter Kevin Carey, 62, pronounced himself supportive of what Trump did but aware of the risks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say thrilled but I\u2019m cautiously optimistic,\u201d he said. Carey recalled the seizing of U.S. hostages<\/a> by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979 as an indication of what might happen if the conflict escalates. But \u201che\u2019ll take all actions to avoid that, I believe,\u201d he said of Trump.<\/p>\n

On any further foreign intervention,<\/a> Carey broke out laughing when he said: \u201cHe wants Greenland to be part of America!\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Trump merchandise store where Bonner shopped, banners and other items proclaiming \u201cTrump 2028\u201d are on display. Trump is constitutionally prohibited from running in 2028. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know he can\u2019t run for president\u201d in 2028, said Bonner, a propane company worker. Still, he wanted a lawn sign \u201cjust to irritate people\u201d but didn\u2019t find one.<\/p>\n

The crisp military operation plainly left him impressed. \u201cThey got in and they got out, did what they had to do,\u201d he said. Of Maduro, he said: \u201cHe\u2019s an enemy of the United States so I support Trump 100%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Affirmation from the Midwest<\/p>\n

Exiting a Walmart in Martinsville, Indiana, Mark Edward Miller, 75, from nearby Mooresville, said the only thing that surprised him about Trump\u2019s intervention was that word of it did not leak in advance. The consistent Trump voter was an aircraft maintenance specialist in the Air Force before his retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel like he\u2019s actually taken over a country,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI believe that he\u2019s doing exactly what our country should be doing \u2014 supporting, especially in our hemisphere, governments that are friendly with us\u201d and challenging those that are hostile.<\/p>\n

Tobin, the man in Michigan who sees a cinematic future for the raid, not only approved of the operation but wants more of them.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially if they were as successful as this last one where we didn\u2019t lose any troops, we didn\u2019t lose any planes or ships,\u201d Tobin said during a visit to the Oakland County Republican Party headquarters, where he was surrounded by Trump and GOP memorabilia. \u201cI am thrilled and surprised\u201d by what happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cCuba\u2019s very nervous right now,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the Cuban people are suffering immensely from their horrible situation and their economy. Iran might be next.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-time Trump voter is an active member of the local Republican Party, a certified firearms instructor and head of a bicycling group in his hometown of Oak Park, Michigan. <\/p>\n

His takeaway: \u201cPresident Trump does not speak idly. If he says he\u2019s going to do something, he does something.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Bedayn reported from Colorado, Catalini from Pennsylvania, Householder from Michigan, Bates from Mississippi, Lamy from Indiana and Woodward from Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s only been days since an audacious U.S. raid snatched Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from a Venezuelan military base and…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":498042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[223803,10762,1578,1613,13672,4439,223806,69,57,51,6323,2862,15053,1612,223800,223801,773,15337,50,92550,5217,223802,223804,2830,80,223805,4217,52,223807,61,322,67,370,32322,333,93],"class_list":{"0":"post-498041","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-aaron-tobin","9":"tag-assault","10":"tag-associated-press","11":"tag-central-america","12":"tag-co-state-wire","13":"tag-colorado","14":"tag-dawn-diner","15":"tag-donald-trump","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-headlines","18":"tag-in-state-wire","19":"tag-indiana","20":"tag-jeffrey-epstein","21":"tag-latin-america","22":"tag-mark-edward-miller","23":"tag-mary-lussier","24":"tag-mississippi","25":"tag-ms-state-wire","26":"tag-news","27":"tag-nicolas-maduro","28":"tag-pa-state-wire","29":"tag-patrick-mccans","30":"tag-paul-bonner","31":"tag-pennsylvania","32":"tag-politics","33":"tag-ron-soto","34":"tag-south-america","35":"tag-top-stories","36":"tag-travis-garcia","37":"tag-u-s-news","38":"tag-u-s-republican-party","39":"tag-united-states","40":"tag-united-states-government","41":"tag-venezuela","42":"tag-voting","43":"tag-washington-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}