A group of former senior U.S. national security officials has issued a stark warning, stating that President Donald Trump's recent military action in Venezuela is further isolating the United States globally. They argue the operation was conducted without a clear strategy, risks destabilizing Latin America, and intensifies concerns about the president's mental state.
A Reckless Operation Without a Plan
During a press call on Tuesday, veteran former CIA and foreign policy figures expressed alarm at what they described as the ineptitude and recklessness of Trump's decision. Last week, U.S. forces entered Venezuela under cover of darkness to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, who now face U.S. charges in New York City.
Luis Moreno, a former ambassador to Jamaica with extensive Caribbean experience, criticized the ad-hoc nature of the decision-making. "There's no process in our foreign policy anymore," Moreno said. "We're doing foreign policy, and defense policy to a certain extent, via tweet at 3 o'clock in the morning, and everyone has to respond to that."
The operation proceeded without the congressional authorization mandated by the Constitution, leaving both Republican and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill unaware of the full scope of U.S. objectives in the nation of 28 million people.
Conflicting Messages and Neo-Imperialist Fears
The Trump administration has failed to present a coherent plan for Venezuela's future. President Trump has asserted the U.S. will now "run" Venezuela and be "very much involved" in taking its oil, a statement Secretary of State Marco Rubio later softened to overseeing the country's "direction." Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, framed the raid as targeting "narcoterrorists."
Brian Naranjo, a former senior foreign service officer with over 30 years in the hemisphere, called the move "disturbing." He said it signals a shift from promoting democracy to a darker, neo-imperialist stance. "This jackassery that is being inflicted by the White House is being taken quite seriously downrange in the hemisphere," Naranjo stated, noting that other nations are now reorganizing to counter U.S. influence.
Constitutional Crisis and Guardrails Gone
In Congress, Democrats are pushing for legislation to rein in Trump's war powers regarding Venezuela. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq War veteran, emphasized that while Maduro is a corrupt dictator, his regime did not pose an imminent threat justifying bypassing Congress. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is the sole Republican to support a war powers resolution on the matter.
Steven Nash, a former CIA official, highlighted the unprecedented nature of the raid's circumstances. "The lack of any briefing of Congress, the lack of any authorization... I do think is certainly, in the 20th and 21st century, unprecedented," said Nash, who leads The Steady State network of ex-officials.
Compounding these concerns are direct worries about the 79-year-old president's capacity. Bill Piekney, a former 30-year CIA executive, cited a "worry that we all have... is the president, the man himself, who is sinking deeper into a dementia of some sort." He lamented the absence of strategic advisers and an inner circle too afraid to challenge Trump, leaving no effective guardrails on presidential power.
