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In the latest escalation of tensions between the US and Venezuela, on December 17 US President Donald Trump ordered a “complete blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela. His Venezuelan counterpart, Nicolás Maduro, called the move “warmongering threats”, and accused the US of trying to steal its resources.Since September, US military operations in the Caribbean have killed at least 95 people in 25 strikes. The Trump administration says it is targeting drug traffickers, but US lawmakers are now investigating some of the strikes amid mounting criticism of their scope and intent.Meanwhile, Trump has placed a US$50 million bounty on the hea

President Donald Trump was big on boast and short on details when he committed the U.S. to running the whole nation of Venezuela on Saturday.“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump told reporters in the hours following his administration’s invasion and seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.But Trump ran on an “America First” campaign of keeping the nation out of expensive international campaigns and foreign wars, and

The only United States President in history to violently attack his own country, and attempt a coup to stay in power was always going to be a threat to illegally attack other countries like Venezuela, and destabilize the entire world.This was the greatest fear when Donald J. Trump was recklessly reelected in 2024 by a slim majority of voters in a battered country that is split apart at the seams, and gasping for air.Trump, of course, promised these people he’d fix 90 percent of our problems on Day One, and has instead doubled and tripled them, while officially becoming the most dangerous problem the United States has ever had to grapple with. He is a madman with the most powerful military in the

Bulwark Managing Editor Sam Stein and Publisher Sarah Longwell say Donald Trump’s inconsistent reasoning for invading Venezuela and kidnapping its president suggests other ulterior motives behind the attack.“He said in his Fox interview,” said Stein, speaking on a live podcast of the president’s Saturday morning press conference on the invasion. “… This gets to motivations and obviously there’s a question of [Venezuela’s] oil or is it the drugs. He did notably compare Maduro’s election to his own 2020 loss. … It seems wild but there’s … been this longstanding election conspiracy in MAGA circle

After the U.S. bombed Venezuela in the middle of the night and abducted President Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump was quick to threaten legitimately-elected governments in the region. In particular, Trump implied a hazy future conflict with Mexico in an interview with Fox News Saturday morning. “So, was this operation a message that you’re sending to Mexico, to Claudia Sheinbaum, the president there?” Fox’s Griff Jenkins asked.“Well, it wasn’t meant to be, we’re very friendly with her, she’s a good

Mediaite reports President Donald Trump could not stop raging about his 2020 election defeat on Fox News, even while thumping his chest over his attack and kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife Saturday morning.Trump announced on Truth Social that Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured and flown to the United States at 4:21 a.m. Saturday. Later, Trump called in to the Saturday edition of Fox & Friends Saturday for a

The Atlantic reports a once-reliable moneymaking subgenre of nonfiction is no longer making money.Books pertaining to “Trump-the-conqueror volumes, designed to appeal to his base,” have “lost its juice,” reports the Atlantic.“After 10 years of Trump the politician, even readers who were once hungry to learn about the man they’d voted for seem to have had their fill. Newt Gingrich’s Trump’s Triumph lasted only two weeks on the nonfiction chart in June,” writes former Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi. “Despite cable-news attention, The Greatest Comeb

The Guardian reports incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi had no place for ethics training while taking the reins at the Department of Justice. “I think the reason to fire the senior ethics attorney at DOJ is pretty clear. It’s to send a message,” said Joseph Tirrell, an attorney responsible for overseeing ethics compliance across the agency and training top officers in their obligation. “The message is: ‘Do what we tell you to do, or you’ll lose your job.’”Tir

MS NOW reports President Donlad Trump is keeping his legal arguments hidden even as his administration escalates a months-long campaign against Venezuela to a Saturday strike in Caracas and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro.Trump announced the raid and kidnapping operation in a 4:21 a.m. Truth Social post, but MS NOW reports Trump did not seek congressional authorization for neither this nor a series of deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean.“The administration has cited a Justice Departmen

Social media appears to have had enough of over-the-top behavior from the nation’s unpopular president.“It's time to play America's favorite new game, 'what the f—— am I waking up to now,’” posted political gadfly Jeff Tiedrich, speaking of President Donald Trump’s unexpected invasion and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and flying them out of the country amid a volley of explosions and smoke.International reaction to the aggressive move was hostile, with