Bernie Sanders
Posted January 8, 2026
Editor’s Note: The following statement by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was issued Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 following a press conference in which President Donald Trump confirmed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, along with his wife, had been kidnapped by US forces and that going forward the US government would be “running” the country and seizing control of its natural resources, including vast oil reserves.
Donald Trump has, once again, shown his contempt for the Constitution and the rule of law. The President of the United States does NOT have the right to unilaterally take this country to war, even against a corrupt and brutal dictator like Maduro. The United States does NOT have the right, as Trump stated this morning [Jan. 3, 2026], to “run” Venezuela. Congress must immediately pass a War Powers resolution to end this illegal military operation and reassert its constitutional responsibilities.
Trump’s attack on Venezuela will make the United States and the world less safe. This brazen violation of international law gives a green light to any nation on earth that may wish to attack another country to seize their resources or change their governments. This is the horrific logic of force that Putin used to justify his brutal attack on Ukraine.
The President of the United States does NOT have the right to unilaterally take this country to war, even against a corrupt and brutal dictator like Maduro.
Trump and his administration have often said they want to revive the Monroe Doctrine, claiming the United States has the right to dominate the affairs of the hemisphere. They have spoken openly about controlling Venezuela’s oil reserves, the largest in the world. This is rank imperialism. It recalls the darkest chapters of U.S. interventions in Latin America, which have left a terrible legacy. It will and should be condemned by the democratic world.
Trump campaigned for president on an “America First” platform. He claimed to be the “peace candidate.” At a time when 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, when our healthcare system is collapsing, when people cannot afford housing and when AI threatens millions of jobs, it is time for the president to focus on the crises facing this country and end this military adventurism abroad. Trump is failing in his job to “run” the United States. He should not be trying to “run” Venezuela.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders serves the state of Vermont.
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