Article Summary – Is the U.S. Getting Ready To Go To War with Venezuela?
-Donald Trump campaigned on avoiding quagmire wars—but Venezuela is testing that promise.
-After U.S. strikes on suspected drug boats, senior officials led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio are reportedly mapping a pressure campaign to force Nicolás Maduro from power, with CIA backing and 6,500 U.S. troops in the region.
-The Navy has surged ships into Caribbean waters as planners weigh operations inside Venezuela, though the president hasn’t signed off.
-Caracas, warning of “aggression,” is flirting with emergency powers. Is this saber-rattling or the prelude to regime change?
-The stakes: narcotics, regional stability, and America’s post-Iraq appetite for intervention.
Is Washington Poised to Topple Maduro? Inside the Sudden Venezuela War Scare
Donald Trump rose to power, first in 2017 and again this year, in part by arguing that his opponents in both parties wanted to get into protracted wars, which he would avoid.
In the 2016 campaign, Trump argued strongly against the Iraq War, which emphasized regime change, and vowed not to do things like that as president.
Trump has never been particularly dovish, in either of his presidencies, and has never been shy about bombing countries or attacking foreign adversaries.
Trump bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, something that previous presidents had been reluctant to do.
There has been plenty of foreign intervention in the second Trump presidency, but thus far, there has not been a full-on war for regime change in a foreign country.
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) prepares to conduct a refueling at sea with the guided missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) as the two ships operate in the Caribbean Sea on April 20, 2006. The George Washington Carrier Strike group is participating in Partnership of the Americas, a maritime training and readiness deployment of U.S. Naval Forces along with navies of Caribbean and Latin American countries for enhanced maritime security.
(DoD photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael D. Blackwell II, U.S. Navy. (Released))
But that may be about to change, with the recent attacks on boats off the coast of Venezuela, and reports that some within the Trump Administration are eying a push to eliminate the regime of that nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
Rubio’s War?
The New York Times reported earlier this week that top aides to Trump have been pushing in recent days to remove Maduro from power.
Officials, per the report, have been “discussing a broad campaign that would escalate military pressure to try to force him out.”
The leader of the push is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was a sharp critic of Maduro during his time as a U.S. senator. The approach is supported by both CIA director John Radcliffe and influential White House adviser Stephen Miller, the report says.
“Mr. Rubio argues that Mr. Maduro is an illegitimate leader who oversees the export of drugs to the United States, which he says poses an “imminent threat,” the Times story said.
Following the recent attacks on what the Trump Administration refers to as drug boats, Rubio is “shaping a more aggressive strategy, using intelligence provided by the C.I.A.” This includes a force of more than 6,500 troops in the region.
Military Operations
“The U.S. military has been planning potential military operations targeting drug trafficking suspects in Venezuela itself as a next phase,” the Times said, noting that the president has not yet approved such measures.
However, Army Recognition reported earlier this week that the Navy has deployed the USS Stockdale (DDG-106), “considered its most battle-proven warship since World War II,” to the Caribbean. The Stockdale is coming off what the report describes as “a high-intensity deployment in the Red Sea.”
U.S. Marines with Bravo Company, 2d Assault Amphibious Battalion, 2d Marine Division approach the USS Wasp (LHD 1) in assault amphibious vehicles off of Onslow Beach during a three-day ship-to-shore exercise on Camp Lejeune, N.C., June 27, 2020. During the exercise, the Marines conducted amphibious maneuvers and dynamic ship-to-shore operations with the USS Wasp (LHD 1). (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jacqueline Parsons)
The Navy Times had reported on September 23 that the Stockdale, at that point, was one of eight Naval vessels in the Caribbean, along with the USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely, USS Iwo Jima, USS Fort Lauderdale, USS San Antonio, USS Lake Erie, and USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul.
Who Would Replace Maduro in the Event of a U.S. Coup?
The Times quoted two sources in the Venezuelan opposition as stating that “their movement has been planning for what to do if Mr. Maduro falls and has been talking with the Trump administration about that possibility.”
In Trump’s first term, the Administration had backed Juan Guaidó, who proclaimed himself the winner of a disputed presidential election, and even welcomed him at the State of the Union address.
The View from Caracas
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Maduro declared that he was ready to declare a state of emergency, as a result of the threat of U.S. “aggression.”
“Today the consultation process began … to declare a state of emergency in accordance with the constitution and protect our people, our peace, and our stability if Venezuela were attacked by the American empire, attacked militarily,” the Venezuelan leader said in a televised address, as reported by CBS News.
CBS also reported that Vice President Delcy Rodriguez had declared that Maduro had signed a decree granting himself “special powers” if the U.S. “dares to attack our homeland,” although a government source later denied that Maduro had signed the document.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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Jim
October 3, 2025 at 12:03 pm
Trump wanted regime change in Venezuela in his first term and it didn’t go well… it was such a failure, it turned into a joke, Juan Guaidó, Trump’s would-be “president” was an unmitigated running joke.
Now, Trump is going back to his political vomit, like Democrats went back to the soft on crime platform after being tough on crime following Michael Dukakis’s loss in the ’88 presidential election in part due to the crime issue (Willie Horton ad played ad nauseam ).
So, here, in Trump’s second term, once again, Trump is going after regime change in Venezuela, demonizing President Nicolás Maduro, destroying speed boats off Venezuela’s coast, and maintaining a Marine expeditionary force circling off the coast of Venezuela.
It’s a potential quagmire & disaster in the making. Caracas, the capitol of Venezuela, is not on the coast, but roughly 20 miles inland (city center) and is connected to the coast by a winding highway through a mountainous and steep route, Caracas is 3,000 feet above sea level.
To land troops on the coast and march up the highway would be a slaughter pen for our soldiers.
An air drop of the 101 airborne division (in example) would be extremely dangerous and problematic, possibly an outright and unmitigated disaster.
Look, I’m no fan of Maduro or Socialism, but going back to your earlier political failure and trying to get a second bite at the apple to “get it right this time around” is a fool’s errand.
Is Trump going to come to Congress to justify such an attack? Probably not, at Trump’s own peril.
Say, Trump is stupid enough to do a military operation against Venezuela and it turns into a quagmire, it consumes his presidency, and if it goes badly enough, it could lead to impeachment, conviction, and removal.
The Constitution requires Congress to declare war, not the president going off on his authority. Now, Congress may go along with it, unless it fails spectacularly, then recriminations will begin and the impeachment process begins.
Is this the path Trump wants to go down? Going back to his political vomit from his first term would demonstrate the pure stupidity of Donald Trump.
Don’t do it. Swallow your pride, a tough one for Trump, and pay the price and buy the oil at market rates.
This obsession Trump has for Venezuela is self-destructive.
And could lead to his political downfall.
Jim
October 5, 2025 at 6:33 pm
Update: reports have surfaced suggesting the U. S. is considering, if not already decided, to conduct military takeovers of coastal facilities and the international airport located on the coast about 13 miles west of downtown Caracas. The airport is situated directly on the coast, a would-be choke point.
(After another speed boat was blown up.)
Chatter is high.
Will this bring Maduro to his knees?
How long can the United States sustain an occupation such as has been rumored?
It will be bloody and potentially, initially, successful, but what next? What if Maduro holds out in the capitol, Caracas?
That operation doesn’t have a long self life with the American People, especially when coffins start coming back home to Andrews air force base.
(Is Trump going to meet each with full honors?)
I hope he doesn’t give the order for such a short-sighted affair.
Trump is risking the rest of his presidency…
… on a roll of the dice at the beach… it didn’t go well last time… at a place known as the Taj Mahal on the boardwalk, Atlantic City.
Don’t do it.
That one almost broke you.
This one will.