Many Republican voters back Trump’s Venezuela raid as a show of U.S. power

President Trump’s weekend raid in Venezuela drew broad support from many Republican voters, who praised the operation as projecting American power while avoiding American casualties and deposing Nicolás Maduro.

Influential conservative figures offered measured skepticism: Tucker Carlson questioned whether the action signaled a new era of empire, Steve Bannon asked whether it echoed the Iraq fiasco, and Marjorie Taylor Greene said the government should not put its full focus on foreign countries — though the report noted that Carlson and Bannon praised the raid itself. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this week found 65 percent of Republican respondents approved of the operation, 6 percent disapproved, and about 29 percent said they didn’t know or skipped the question.

Republican voters told The New York Times they saw the mission as projecting strength without nation‑building or large U.S. troop commitments, and they contrasted it with the Iraq invasion. Some voters expressed hesitation, saying it was too soon to draw firm conclusions; others said they trusted Mr. Trump would not follow through on rhetoric about “running” Venezuela, a position he reiterated in an interview with The Times, and some warned against repeating such operations frequently.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, Republican Voters, U.s. Military