President Trump has finally struck the definitive blow against Pres Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela, approving a military operation that removed the latter from power. The geopolitical justification for it is beginning to come into view:

‘1. The US’ Grand Strategic Goal Is To Build “Fortress America”

‘It was assessed here that the National Security Strategy’s prioritization of the Western Hemisphere is all about building “Fortress America”, which refers to the restoration of the US’ hegemony over the Americas in order for it to survive and even thrive if it loses control of the Eastern Hemisphere. It might not happen right away, but the US’ “special military operation” will likely result in it obtaining control over Venezuela’s oil reserves, the world’s largest. That would help make “Fortress America” a reality’ (Andrew Korybko, ‘Five Takeaways From The US’ “Special Military Operation” In Venezuela,’ korybko.substack.com).

Back here in the States, we now have to sort through the consequences of Pres Trump’s operation, particularly how it fits into growing executive power within the federal government and declining power of the legislative branch. We agree on very little with Leftists like Senator Chuck Schumer; today is one of those rare days when our views coincide:

‘Democratic lawmakers criticized the attack and said it was illegal without congressional approval. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called Maduro “an illegitimate dictator” but said his capture “without congressional authorization and without a credible plan for what comes next is reckless”’ (Ryan Mancini ‘Rubio sends warning to Cuba’s leaders after Maduro’s removal: ‘I’d be concerned’,’ thehill.com).

Several times now Pres Trump has launched military operations without congressional approval, which is in violation of the federal constitution. He and his administration will claim that these battles are somehow in the best interest of the United States. But with the situation in Venezuela, Pres Trump said something revealing:

‘“We’re going to be running it with a group, and we’re going to make sure it’s run properly,” Trump said. “We’re going to make sure the people of Venezuela are taken care of and we’re going to make sure the people of Venezuela who were forced out by this thug are taken care of”’ (Ibid.).

The people who elected Trump did not vote for him because he promised ‘to make sure the people of Venezuela are taken of’. Most of us voted for him to ensure the interests of US citizens were taken care of first and foremost. We voted for him because he promised to stop foreign interventions that pulled our focus and energy away from our own ruinous domestic situation.

This looks very bad. We thought we were getting MAGA, but instead we’re getting MVGA (Make Venezuela Great Again).

This has disaster written all over it. Politically, it could alienate a lot of Trump supporters who are sick of foreign military adventures as the 2026 midterm elections approach.

More existentially, the US are not capable of effectively running colonial-type governments. The British Empire could do this because of the centuries-old aristocratic traditions and virtues of the English and others that produced an outstanding civil service corps. Their sense of duty and loyalty to the Empire gave them the ability to set aside their personal ambitions and live as civil servants in forgotten corners of Africa and Asia for years, often improving the standard of living of the places where they governed. The peoples of the States lack that tradition for the most part (the South being an exception to that rule), which is why our attempts at imperialism – such as Afghanistan and Iraq – often fail so miserably.

Speaking of Southerners, we have a remarkable prophecy of sorts from the exceptional South Carolina statesman John Calhoun. Speaking to the Senate after the Mexican War, he said,

‘When I said that there was a mysterious connection between the fate of our country and that of Mexico, I had reference to the great fact that we stood in such relation to here that we could make no disposition of Mexico, as a subject or conquered nation, that would not prove disastrous to us. . . . you have looked into history, and are too well acquainted with the fatal effects which large provincial possessions have ever had on the institutions of free states—to need any proof to satisfy you how hostile it would be to the institutions of this country, to hold Mexico as a subject province’ (Dr Clyde Wilson, ‘John C. Calhoun: Anti-Imperialist,’ abbevilleinstitute.org).

Applying this to conditions today, Sen Calhoun is warning us that acquiring Venezuela as a colony/protectorate will not be beneficial to the traditions of freedom that have developed in the US; it will undermine them.

We do believe Trump erred badly by engaging in a regime change operation in Venezuela. However, we are willing to overlook this transgression.

Pres Trump has shown that he is willing to flout constitutional norms to overthrow a corrupt government in Venezuela. If he will do the same to dismantle the gargantuan, monumentally corrupt government apparatus in Washington, D.C., we will overlook his mistake with Maduro – when he shuts down entire federal departments; when he eliminates the federal budget deficit; when he begins paying off large portions of the national debt; when he expels thousands of illegal aliens; when he breaks the power of big banks, big pharma, big ag, and the other corporate cartels that is crushing the plain folks in the States. He will more than likely have to usurp the powers of Congress and the courts to get all that done, but once again, if he is willing to burst constitutional restraints for the Venezuelan people, he should be more than willing to do the same for the folks back home in the States.

If Trump is not willing to go to those same lengths for US citizens, then his Venezuelan op looks too much like Bush-Cheney adventurism in Iraq, an unnecessary repetition of a very dark chapter in US history – to borrow Dr Russell Kirk’s words about the first Iraq war, which were a paraphrase of Sir Edmund Burke’s, ‘To war for an oil can!’

On that note, it is well to hear one last word from Senator Calhoun in closing, a salutary warning to the peoples of the States:

‘To his closest confidante, his daughter Anna, Calhoun wrote: “Our people have undergone a great change. Their inclination is for conquest & empire, regardless of their institutions and liberty; or, rather, they think they hold their liberty by a divine tenure, which no imprudence, or folly on their part, can defeat”’ (Dr Wilson, via the link above).

Let us pray that Venezuela will not be the next US imperial folly, that the federal government will do right by the people of that country as well as their own.