By far the biggest story of the new year is President Trump’s bold move on Venezuela.

Venezuela’s narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro is the latest to learn a lesson Trump has taught repeatedly: when he says it, he means it. Early Saturday morning, the U.S. military executed a stunning, targeted operation in Caracas that removed Maduro and his wife from power. Both are now being held in New York, where Maduro will face drug trafficking charges.

Tensions between the United States and Maduro had been building for months as President Trump warned him to crack down on drug trafficking—or else. Over the weekend, Trump made good on that promise.

As Vice President J.D. Vance has pointed out, Maduro was given multiple off-ramps to avoid escalation. He could have cooperated. Instead, Trump was crystal clear throughout the process: actions have consequences—real ones, not just frozen assets or empty threats.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio put it plainly.

“Now you know.” Simple as that.

Trump isn’t just a man of action; he’s a man of effective action.

Under Presidents Bush and Obama, the United States poured trillions of dollars into Afghanistan, deployed more than 100,000 troops, and lost over 2,400 American lives fighting the Taliban—only to discover that Osama bin Laden had been hiding in Pakistan the entire time.

By contrast, President Trump apprehended Nicolás Maduro through a precise operation that avoided a full-scale war, reported zero U.S. casualties—zero—and, according to Trump, not a single piece of American equipment lost.

Obliterating Iran’s nuclear program last year was another mission the experts insisted couldn’t be done—until it was. Then came the pearl-clutching and dire predictions of a war that never materialized.

What happened in Venezuela is about far more than Venezuela. Maduro turned his country into a hellhole and a partner in crime to China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba. Knocking him off his throne is a direct blow to all of them.

When the Islamic regime in Iran eventually falls, its terrorist leaders won’t be able to run and hide in Venezuela. China and Russia have lost a central intelligence hub in the Western Hemisphere. Cuba and others have lost access to cheap Venezuelan oil. And all of the Islamic regime’s assets—drone factories and military bases—are now in the hands of the U.S. military.

Just hours before his capture, Maduro was meeting with Communist Chinese officials. Hours later, he was blindfolded and handcuffed aboard the U.S.S. *Iwo Jima*. The message to the world couldn’t be clearer: it doesn’t matter who you’re in bed with—if you commit crimes against our people, you will be held accountable.

That, of course, isn’t the message Democrats and their allies in the media are broadcasting. Instead, it’s pearl-clutching all over again—an embarrassing defense of a totalitarian regime and a ruthless dictator responsible for crimes against humanity.

Take Democrat Representative Becca Balint, who styles herself a champion of human rights yet is now standing up for Maduro—a man who systematically violated those rights for millions, murdered children, and imprisoned teenagers.

Balint and her colleagues parroting the same talking points are dead wrong. Either they know it and are lying, or they haven’t bothered to examine the legality of this operation.

The precedent is clear. Thirty-seven years ago, the United States extradited Panama’s unlawful leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega. The Supreme Court upheld it. Noriega was convicted of drug and money laundering offenses. Maduro was indicted five years ago for similar crimes. Like Noriega, Maduro has never been recognized as the lawful leader of his country—by Republicans or Democrats. This was the lawful execution of an outstanding criminal warrant.

Presidents of both parties have routinely authorized deadly strikes against countries and individuals. Congress has authorized military action just five times in 250 years—so spare us the outrage.

Under President Barack Obama, an American citizen was killed through a targeted killing program. Obama also dropped more than 26,000 bombs without congressional approval. If Obama could order the death of a U.S. citizen without formal charges, President Trump can certainly apprehend a non–U.S. citizen facing an active federal indictment without advance approval from Congress.

Rubio and Trump explained exactly why Congress wasn’t notified.

He’s exactly right—and as an American citizen, that’s exactly what I voted for.

This operation wasn’t just legal; it was justified.

What you’re seeing there is Maduro’s regime mowing down peaceful protesters with military vehicles. That’s the government people like Congresswoman Balint are defending. They call Trump a dictator while excusing the actions of actual murderous dictators.

Maduro is a narco-dictator in the mold of Hugo Chávez, responsible for the destruction of millions of lives. More people have fled Venezuela than any country other than Syria. A third of the population is gone—many to the United States. Hundreds of political opponents have been arrested. Thousands have been killed. Those still alive have lost their jobs, savings, pensions, and futures.

Iranian militias, Chinese corporations, and Russian intelligence operated freely inside Venezuela. Maduro turned the country into a base for authoritarian regimes—the very regimes Democrats accuse the United States of emulating. These foreign powers looted Venezuela’s land, oil, gold, and institutions, turning it into a haven for the worst actors on the planet and a threat to the Western Hemisphere—until now.

President Trump put it bluntly.

Democrats want you to believe that’s a bad thing.

These are the same people who insisted Lloyd Austin was qualified to be Secretary of Defense—delivering the botched Afghanistan withdrawal and 13 dead troops. And they’re the same people who claimed Pete Hegseth was unqualified to be Secretary of War—only to watch the destruction of Iran’s nuclear program and the capture of Maduro without a single U.S. casualty.

Despite Democrats’ best efforts to suppress it, Venezuelans are celebrating. Those are the sounds of liberation.

The media would do better to air those reactions instead of endlessly platforming Trump’s political opponents. Ask Venezuelans whether this operation was a good thing and the answer is a resounding yes. One Venezuelan woman, whose brother was killed by Maduro, said it plainly.

Even on U.S. soil, in the streets of Florida, displaced Venezuelans are celebrating with the same joy. Many believe they can finally return home—to their families, their communities, and the lives destroyed by Maduro’s reign of terror.

It’s good news any way you slice it. Maduro was a socialist dictator. And anyone who thinks he deserved to stay in power might just be a socialist too.