All of that came crashing down last week, however, when the second Trump administration made the bold move of capturing Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and whisking them to US soil to face drug trafficking charges.
Trump says the US will run Venezuela in the interim until a “safe, proper and judicious” leadership transition can take place. The audacious move quickly drew condemnation and calls for caution from other countries.
On Jan 4, China’s foreign ministry expressed “grave concern” over the forced seizure of Maduro, calling it a “clear violation of international law.” China also called for the immediate release of Maduro and his wife and for the US to “stop toppling the government of Venezuela, and resolve issues through dialogue and negotiation.” The European Union, on the other hand, has called for “calm and restraint by all actors” so as to resolve the crisis peacefully.
Critics argue that Trump’s attack on Venezuela was reckless because it could embolden China to assert itself on Taiwan. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, a Democrat, says in a X post on Jan 3 that China can use the attack to “justify going after Taiwan” and Russia can use it to “justify escalation in Ukraine or even elsewhere.”
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“Trump doesn’t get that, and it makes Americans and our allies and partners less safe,” Kelly writes.
However, consistency has never been Trump’s strong suit. The property developer turned reality TV star prides himself on being unpredictable at the negotiating table. This was the same man who eagerly sought out North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, only to walk away halfway through their second meeting in Vietnam with no deal to show for it.
But in the case of Venezuela, the writing has actually been on the wall for some time. After all, Trump himself might have already laid out his intentions from the start. In the very same inaugural speech where Trump promised to be a peacemaker, he also hinted at a more expansionist vision for the US.
“The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation — one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities, raises our expectations, and carries our flag into new and beautiful horizons,” Trump said in his second inaugural address.
Given what has since unfolded, Trump’s threats to annex Canada and Greenland read less like bluster and more like a knowing hint at what he intended all along.
Geopolitical and market watchers may want to pay closer attention to what the president says. Trying to forecast Trump’s actions based on foreign policy precedents makes little sense when he is such an outspoken figure who wears his heart on his sleeve (or on Truth Social).
