The New York Times-The Morning Newsletter
"The Venezuela takeover", Trump saying "we're not afraid of boots on the ground."
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Russ Roberts (https://trendsingeopolitics.blogspot.com).
 January 4, 2026 |
Good morning. The Times threw its reporting might at the U.S. incursion into Venezuela. Here’s what you need to know.
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| At Mar-a-Lago. Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times |
The Venezuela takeover
 | I’m the editor of this newsletter. |
Yesterday, President Trump resurrected the interventionist foreign policy he had mocked for years. Under his orders, American troops invaded Venezuela and seized the president and the first lady. Hours later, Trump said that the United States would “run” the country for the foreseeable future. He acknowledged the potential for entanglement: “We’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”
The administration spent much of 2025 twisting the vise on President Nicolás Maduro, calling him a cartel leader and trying to dislodge him from office. After his arrest yesterday, the attorney general said that Maduro would face narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges. But Trump also spoke about another rationale: Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world. He said that U.S. companies would soon rebuild Venezuela’s oil sector.
For how long will the United States oversee Venezuela? How did troops capture Maduro? What will happen to him next? How did Venezuelans and other countries view the incursion? We have some answers below. To follow the latest news all day, click here.
The operation
C.I.A. officers slipped into the country in August and, with the help of stealth drones, began studying Maduro and his movements. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday that the spies wanted to understand “where he lived, where he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets.” A source in the Venezuelan government helped the C.I.A. track him.
Preparation. In Kentucky, the military built a full-scale model of Maduro’s compound. Elite Army Delta Force commandos rehearsed a strike, blowing through steel doors at ever-faster paces, our intelligence and defense reporters write. When the weather was clear, and the risk of civilian casualties seemed low, the commandos struck.
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The seizure. First, a cyber-operation cut power to large parts of Caracas, allowing 150 American planes, drones and helicopters to approach undetected. They bombed radar and air-defense sites and dropped off the commandos at Venezuela’s most fortified military base. The Delta Force blew open a door and found Maduro three minutes later. One helicopter took fire, and about a half-dozen U.S. soldiers were injured, but no Americans died. At least 40 Venezuelans were killed, including troops and civilians, an official there said.
The whole operation took a little over two hours; Trump followed along on screens at Mar-a-Lago. “I watched it, literally, like I was watching a television show,” he told Fox News. Afterward, he posted an image of Maduro blindfolded and handcuffed.
Acting alone. While presidents often open military campaigns without a congressional declaration of war, the White House usually informs some lawmakers about its plans. Yesterday, though, Trump said they could not be trusted because “Congress has a tendency to leak.”
What’s next
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| Flames at Fuerte Tiuna, Venezuela’s largest military complex. Luis Jaimes/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
At a press conference yesterday, Trump said the United States would manage Venezuela “until such time that we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” But who will be in charge and how will it work? As David Sanger, a White House correspondent, asked yesterday: “Will the United States have an occupying military force? Will it install a pliant government for some number of years? Will it run the courts, and determine who pumps the oil?” There weren’t many answers.
A transition. Maduro’s vice president, Delcy RodrÃguez, took the oath of office yesterday and is now the country’s interim leader. Still, she called the United States an illegal invader and said Maduro was the “only president.” (Read more about RodrÃguez, the scion of a Marxist guerrilla who nevertheless built bridges with the business community.) Trump said she would hold power as long as she “does what we want.” He declined to support the accession of Venezuela’s opposition leader, MarÃa Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in October.
The expectation. White House reporters explained that officials declined to call their plan an occupation:
Instead, they vaguely sketched out an arrangement similar to a guardianship: The United States will provide a vision for how Venezuela should be run and will expect the interim government to carry that out in a transition period, under the threat of further military intervention.
Nation building? Trump said that a key goal of the operation was to regain oil rights that Venezuela had “stolen” when it nationalized the industry. He described the result as “a total bust.” The country now produces a quarter of what it did in the 1990s, thanks to corruption, mismanagement and sanctions. Now, Trump said, U.S. oil companies will “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money” — both for Venezuelans and for themselves.
A legal question. The administration described the operation as a law-enforcement action, not a military invasion. Maduro has been indicted several times in the United States on drug and corruption charges. But under the U.N. Charter, “a nation may not use force on the sovereign territory of another country without its consent, a self-defense rationale, or the authorization of the U.N. Security Council,” writes my colleague Charlie Savage, who covers national security and legal policy. An occupation, too, has no basis in international or domestic law, an expert told him.
The charges. Maduro arrived in New York by helicopter last night and was taken to a detention center in Brooklyn. A four-count indictment in federal district court charges him and his wife, as well as their son and two high-ranking Venezuelan officials, with cocaine smuggling.
Reaction around the world
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| In Caracas. Pedro Mattey/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
Outrage. Russia, China, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico and others denounced the coup as illegal overreach. The U.N. secretary general said the attack set a “dangerous precedent,” and the Security Council plans to meet tomorrow.
A measured response. European leaders seemed glad to be rid of Maduro, and they were cautious about criticizing Trump’s intervention. Friedrich Merz of Germany said that Maduro had “led his country into ruin” and that the U.S. intervention required “careful consideration.” Emmanuel Macron of France said the Venezuelan people could “only rejoice” at the ousting of Maduro. In Britain, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a backlash from members of his Labour Party and other left-wing U.K. parties for failing to criticize the U.S. operation.
Two Venezuelas. Maduro’s supporters demanded his — and the first lady’s — return, and they staged protests and rallies, which were broadcast on Venezuela’s state-run TV. Some who opposed Maduro hesitated to celebrate while the future remained uncertain. “The first thing on my mind isn’t, ‘We are free and I’m so happy,’” a man named José told The Times. “It is, ‘What will happen tomorrow?’” Fearing the chaos to come, Venezuelans flocked to supermarkets to stock up.
In South Florida, members of the Venezuelan diaspora celebrated Maduro’s capture. Some blared music or honked their car horns. Many danced at impromptu parties.
Liberal shock. Democrats criticized the operation. “The American people have been very clear: They do not want to be occupiers again and they do not want to be the world police,” Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona said in an interview on Fox News. New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, posted a message on X saying the military action was “a violation of federal and international law.” He called Trump to register his objection.
Conservative division. Elected Republicans were supportive. Speaker Mike Johnson called the operation “decisive and justified.” But some on the right didn’t understand why the “America first” president had deposed a foreign leader and promised to run his country. “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end,” Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former MAGA stalwart, wrote on social media. “Boy were we wrong.”
For more:
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THE LATEST NEWS |
International
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| In Switzerland. Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times |
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Other Big Stories
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THE SUNDAY DEBATE |
In California, a proposed ballot measure that would impose a one-time tax of 5 percent on billionaires to fund health-care costs has raised concerns of a billionaire exodus. Are these concerns well founded?
Yes. A tax hike in 2012 led some wealthy Californians to leave or reduce their taxable income in a state with already high taxes. “Progressives will want to return to the well until they’ve sucked it dry,” the Washington Post editorial board writes.
No. Multiple studies have shown that tax exoduses tend to be small, if they happen at all, and that people often remain because of business and family ties. “A one-time, well-designed wealth tax minimizes migration risk while funding the health and food systems millions rely on,” Teresa Ghilarducci of Forbes writes.
FROM OPINION |
If there is a lesson of American foreign affairs in the past century, it is that trying to oust even deplorable regimes can make matters worse. That’s why Trump’s intervention in Venezuela isn’t just illegal, but also unwise, the Times editorial board writes.
The capture of Maduro will not solve Venezuela’s problems, Colette Capriles argues.
Queer intimacy has been lacking in mainstream culture. The hit series “Heated Rivalry” finally shows it, Jim Downs writes.
The Times Sale starts now: Our best rate for readers of The Morning.
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MORNING READS |
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| Filming “The Pitt.” Mark Peterson/Redux, for The New York Times |
The doctor is in: A reporter went behind the scenes of “The Pitt,” HBO Max’s acclaimed medical drama, to see its exquisitely choreographed chaos come to life.
Worth traveling for: Use these nine art exhibitions as inspiration for a European vacation this year.
‘It was a decision I had to make’: As enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire, some Americans who struggle to pay for insurance are settling for expensive plans or forgoing coverage altogether.
Your pick: The Morning’s most-clicked link yesterday was about the U.S. attack on Venezuela.
A jockey: Diane Crump made horse-racing history in 1970 when she became the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby. She died at 77.
SPORTS |
N.F.L.: Here is a visual guide to every team’s playoff chances going into the last Sunday of the regular season.
Skiing: The Swiss skier Camille Rast dedicated her first win in a World Cup giant slalom race to the victims of the New Year’s Day fire in Crans-Montana, near her hometown.
THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE |
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| Stephen Ogilvy |
THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … |
Go see “An Ark,” a 47-minute play that features the Oscar nominee Ian McKellen and involves the use of glasses that blend the real and digital worlds.
Cultivate your garden differently this year. A changing landscape requires a fresh approach.
Get stronger with these five strength-training goals.
MEAL PLAN |
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| Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Sarah Jampel. |
Luxury and simplicity aren’t mutually exclusive. Emily Weinstein’s Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter points to spaghetti carbonara — which requires no fancy ingredients but is salty, silky and abundantly satisfying — as proof. There’s an outrageousness to how delicious it is and a disheveled quality that only makes the dish better. It’s a meal to get excited about. Emily has other excitement-worthy meals for you this week, too, including French-onion-soup-inspired chicken and curry shrimp with sweet potato.
NOW TIME TO PLAY |
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Here is today’s Spelling Bee. Yesterday’s pangrams were councilor and unicolor.
Can you put eight historical events — including Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch,” Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and the oldest surviving printed book — in chronological order? Take this week’s Flashback quiz.
And here are today’s Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands.
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P.S.: The regular Book of the Week and Interview portions of this newsletter will return next week.
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.