Trump Unilaterally Launches Struggle with Venezuela to Safe Key Oil Reserves
The Trump administration recently launched a military strike on Caracas, Venezuela, to capture President Nicolás Maduro, an action that has sparked immediate international and domestic debate.
While the White House celebrates the capture of Maduro, the raid occurred without a congressional vote, sparking immediate backlash from the America First base. Voices like Clint Russell of Liberty Lockdown immediately captured the base’s sentiment, stating, “The US is now bombing Caracas, Venezuela. Not. What. I. Voted. For.” Consequently, this military intervention represents a premeditated shift in the America First agenda, executed in direct defiance of constitutional principles to protect a financial order.
The Constitutional Betrayal Foretold
During his December 17th speech, Rep. Thomas Massie reminded Congress that the authority to declare war remains the “crown jewel of Congress,” a power the Constitution explicitly denies to the executive. Massie invoked James Madison, stating, “in no part of the Constitution is more wisdom to be found than in the clause which confides the question of war and peace to the legislature and not the executive.”
Furthermore, Glenn Greenwald reinforced this point, noting that the administration allowed no public debate or discussion in Congress, which the Constitution requires to authorize new wars. Therefore, the subsequent raid, launched without a congressional vote, constitutes a direct and willful violation of the very principle Massie championed on the House floor.
Thomas Massie is going NUCLEAR on Trump’s regime change war in Venezuela.
“How did it work out in Cuba, Libya, Iraq, or Syria?”
“Do we want another Afghanistan in the Western Hemisphere?”
“This is about oil and regime change.”
“Previous presidents told us to go to war over… pic.twitter.com/XzwsC1uPpU
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) January 3, 2026
The Fraudulent Pretext: A War for the Petrodollar
The administration’s official justification for the war—a crusade against drug trafficking—remains a transparent lie to conceal the true motive: preserving the U.S. petrodollar system. Interestingly, the 25-page indictment released by Attorney General Pam Bondi makes no mention of “fentanyl” or “stolen oil,” the two primary public justifications for the military action. Instead, the charges focus exclusively on cocaine trafficking and narco-terrorism, exposing the administration’s public reasoning as a fabrication. As Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stated, fentanyl causes over 70% of U.S. drug overdose deaths and comes from Mexican cartels, yet the administration targets Venezuela instead.
The real reason for the invasion lies in Venezuela’s challenge to the petrodollar. As analyst Ricardo explained, the entire American financial system rests on a 1974 deal with Saudi Arabia that requires all oil sales in U.S. dollars. Venezuela, possessing the world’s largest oil reserves, began selling its oil in Chinese yuan and petitioned to join BRICS, directly threatening this financial order.
This follows a clear historical pattern where nations like Iraq and Libya faced invasion after challenging the dollar’s hegemony. Notably, Venezuela did not have a central bank, but the new administration will establish one now, further integrating the nation into the global financial system. Thus, the administration lied to the American people, using a phony drug war to justify a foreign intervention that serves financial interests.
The Betrayal of America First: ‘Not What I Voted For’
Furthermore, the Venezuela intervention provides a textbook example of the nation-building and foreign entanglements that the America First movement seeks to stop. Glenn Greenwald noted that Donald Trump ran on a platform of opposing regime change wars in three separate elections, yet Maduro poses no threat to the United States. Clint Russell’s visceral reaction—”Not. What. I. Voted. For.”—perfectly encapsulates the feeling of betrayal among Trump’s own supporters. By proceeding with the raid, the administration demonstrates a complete disregard for the will of its voters and abandons the promise to put American lives first.
A Deliberate Defiance of the Constitution
The unconstitutional war in Venezuela represents a calculated act of defiance against the Constitution and the principled warnings of America First conservatives. As Greenwald warned, the public must not get caught up in the “climate of intoxication and war propaganda” surrounding the capture of a “bad guy,” as these actions consistently lead to instability and violence.
Therefore, Americans must stand with Rep. Thomas Massie and demand that their representatives support the War Powers resolution. The voice of the people must prevail, and the Constitution must withstand the actions of a rogue executive branch committed to endless wars for financial interests.