New England politicians are reacting to President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States conducted a “large-scale strike” on Venezuela early Saturday, capturing its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife following months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs.
Congressional Democrats were quick to blast Trump for what they see as the president overstepping Congress. Both Reps. Seth Moulton and Jim McGovern highlighted in their social media posts that Congress did not authorize this war.
“Venezuela posed no imminent threat to the United States,” Moulton, a Marine Corps veteran, wrote on X. “This is reckless, elective regime change risking American lives (Iraq 2.0) with no plan for the day after. Wars cost more than trophies.”
Moulton joined NBC10 Boston Saturday morning for a virtual interview, saying he called it “Iraq 2.0” because it feels “awful similar.”
“I mean Bush said that there was WMD in Iraq, Venezuela does not have WMD but Trump made it up and said that fentanyl is WMD even though it’s not in Venezuela. The war in Iraq was not justified. This war is not justified. At the end of day. he’s using tax payer dollars, in Bush’s case to have a forever war in Iraq, in Trump’s case to start a war in Venezuela, that we know have better uses at home,” Moulton said of the parallels. “Trump says this is going to stop the flow of drugs, just like Bush said it would end terrorism to go to Iraq. Neither is true, and I think the American people know that.”
New England politicians are reacting to President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States conducted a “large-scale strike” on Venezuela early Saturday, capturing its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife following months of attacks on boats accused of carrying drugs.
Moulton went on to say, “there is no imminent threat from Venezuela whatsoever.”
“I mean you could certainly argue that there could be imminent threats from other countries around the world. I mean frankly you know Russia with its thousands of intercontinental ballistic missiles aimed at the United States right now is a greater imminent threat, and yet what does Trump do with Putin? He cowers before him. He does whatever Putin wants. He does not stand up to Putin. So this is the opposite of an imminent threat. It’s an unjustified war. And the risks to American troops to do something that we don’t need to do of course are huge and significant,” Moulton continued. “We obviously have not even had a vote to authorize this. I mean as misbegotten as the Iraq war was, at least Congress had a vote. You know there are a lot of people who took the wrong vote on that war, but at least Congress had a vote. There’s been no congressional action to justify or legalize what’s going on here whatsoever. So Trump owes a lot of explaining to the American people, to Congress, and he’s clearly not following the Constitution in conducting these actions overseas.”
What happens next in Venezuela? Moulton says there’s no plan. He also says he expects the flow of drugs to increase following the chaos left behind by the U.S. strike.
Congress did not authorize this war. Venezuela posed no imminent threat to the United States. This is reckless, elective regime change risking American lives (Iraq 2.0) with no plan for the day after. Wars cost more than trophies.
— Seth Moulton (@sethmoulton) January 3, 2026
Others who believe this was an unjustified illegal strike include McGovern, who said in his post on X, “Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela. He says we don’t have enough money for healthcare for Americans—but somehow we have unlimited funds for war??”
Without authorization from Congress, and with the vast majority of Americans opposed to military action, Trump just launched an unjustified, illegal strike on Venezuela.
He says we don’t have enough money for healthcare for Americans—but somehow we have unlimited funds for war??
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) January 3, 2026
NBC10 Boston also spoke with Reps. Jake Auchincloss and Bill Keating to get their reaction to the major development Saturday morning.
“The president does not have the authority to strike another nation absent congressional authorization or an imminent attack from that nation. There was no imminent threat. This was proactive military action,” said Auchincloss, who is also a Marine Corps veteran.
“They’re trying to cast this, at least with little information that’s public, through Truth Social and the internet that the president has, as a law enforcement type action. This is not a law enforcement type action and I think think he’s going to try and justify this to the American people in that way,” said Keating, who serves on the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs committees.
Make no mistake, this is one of the most eye opening days in US political history.
President Trump has just announced that he is taking control of the sovereign country of Venezuela until he feels fit to return it. He will install his Secretary of Defense, his Secretary of… pic.twitter.com/43yHLFYURF
— Congressman Bill Keating (@USRepKeating) January 3, 2026
President Trump’s unilateral action to send our military into Venezuela on a personal impulse under false fentanyl narco-trafficking allegations should shock the American public. While Maduro did not represent the will of the Venezuelan people, a US military intervention on this… pic.twitter.com/ikYlML2Qn8
— Congressman Bill Keating (@USRepKeating) January 3, 2026
Trump announced on Truth Social around 4:20 a.m. Saturday that the U.S. had successfully carried out a strike against Venezuela and its leader, capturing Maduro and his wife and flying them out of the country — an operation, he said, that was done in conjunction with U.S. law enforcement.
At a news conference shortly before noon at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said the U.S. will “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transitions.”
Trump also said U.S. oil companies would be going into Venezuela to restore infrastructure to the country’s oil operations and threatened a second wave of attack if the country resisted.
The Trump administration has pushed back on those decrying the attack as illegal and maintained it was necessary to stem narcotics flowing into the United States from Venezuela.
President Donald Trump announced the arrest and extradition of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in an overnight operation Saturday, detailing plans for American oversight of the country’s government and oil fields.
Here’s more reaction on social media Saturday from New England’s politicians, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey.
President Trump’s unilateral military action to attack another country and seize Maduro — no matter how terrible a dictator he is — is unconstitutional and threatens to drag the U.S. into further conflicts in the region. What does it mean that the U.S. will ‘run’ Venezuela, and…
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 3, 2026
The Trump administration is lying to Congress and ignoring our constitutionally required approval for military action. This is what dictators do.
This war is not just unjustified—it is unauthorized.
Trump’s attack on Venezuela puts American lives in danger, destabilizes the…
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) January 3, 2026
Opposing Maduro isn’t a permission slip for regime change, oil grabs, or ignoring Congress. Congress must stop Trump from acting with impunity. My full statement on his unconstitutional military action: pic.twitter.com/dhNvgb0Atn
— Congressman Gabe Amo (@RepGabeAmo) January 3, 2026
Laughable. There are people with warrants all over the world. Can you invade all those countries without coming to Congress? If carrying out an arrest requires the full scale invasion of a foreign nation OF COURSE you need to get congressional authorization. https://t.co/piw1QHVTX9
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 3, 2026
President Trump thinks he is above the law. He steals from taxpayers. He thumbs his nose at the law.
And now, he is starting an illegal war with Venezuela that Americans didn’t ask for and has nothing to do with our security.
How does going to war in South America help…
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 3, 2026
Every dictatorship is not a “legitimate government”. That does not give you or any president the constituional power to invade the country without the consent of Congress and the people. https://t.co/jUnNiwmuva
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) January 3, 2026
President Trump’s claim that today’s unauthorized, unilateral military strike in Venezuela is a “law enforcement” action against indicted drug trafficker Maduro rings hollow after the President just pardoned a convicted drug dealer, the former President of Honduras, who was…
— Rep. Joe Courtney (@RepJoeCourtney) January 3, 2026
The President said the US will “run” Venezuela and take over its oil assets. He also threatened Cuba, Iran, and others. That tells you everything about this Administration’s priorities.
There’s always money for war, regime change, and rebuilding another country’s oil industry,…
— Congresswoman Chellie Pingree 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@chelliepingree) January 3, 2026
President Maduro is a corrupt leader who deserves to be brought to justice. However, that fact does not justify President Trump exercising unilateral military action without congressional authorization. pic.twitter.com/skN7yxgq36
— Rep. Richard Neal (@RepRichardNeal) January 3, 2026
Maduro is a brutal thug who stole the election, but removing even an illegitimate leader without a next-day plan is dangerous and irresponsible (see Libya, Iraq, Afg, etc). Trump must put forward a clear strategy for stability in Venezuela or risk a descent into chaos. https://t.co/nRfHUmTp80
— Jim Himes 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@jahimes) January 3, 2026
So much for no foreign wars. The President has no legal authority to attack another country or its leaders. He must be held accountable.https://t.co/igEq0iCQWM
— Rep. Becca Balint (@RepBeccaB) January 3, 2026
Maduro is a dictator whose brutal, antidemocratic rule has brought immense suffering to the Venezuelan people. His repression and corruption are well documented and deserve condemnation. Acknowledging that reality does not justify the Trump administration bypassing Congress,…
— Lori Trahan (@RepLoriTrahan) January 3, 2026
With Congress set to return from the holiday break next week, it’s likely we’ll see a stark partisan divide on this particular issue.