Daily Wire host Ben Shapiro called the U.S. military extraction of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro an “audacious” geopolitical gamble that exposed the limits of Russian defense capabilities in the region.
In a special broadcast analyzing “Operation Absolute Resolve,” Shapiro broke down the logistics of the raid. Some 150 warplanes, including B-1 bombers capable of carrying 24 cruise missiles each, launched from 20 locations across the Western Hemisphere. President Trump monitored the mission from a secure facility at Mar-a-Lago, receiving real-time updates as U.S. forces breached Maduro’s compound at 2:01 a.m. local time.
5 hours
Total duration of the raid
American helicopters came under fire, but overwhelming air power suppressed Venezuelan defenses, including Russian-made S-300 missile systems that failed to deter the incursion. By sunrise, Maduro and his wife were in U.S. custody aboard the USS Iwo Jima, en route to face narco-terrorism charges in the Southern District of New York.
A Different Kind of Regime Change
Shapiro highlighted a key divergence from previous regime change operations: Trump’s stated intention to administer the country temporarily rather than immediately transfer power to opposition leader María Corina Machado. The commentator interpreted this “half-palace coup” as a strategic move to secure cooperation from Venezuelan military elements and prevent a chaotic civil war.
“We are going to run the country.”
— Donald Trump, on the transitional period
Context
The operation echoes the 1989 ouster of Manuel Noriega in Panama. Shapiro argued the legal justification rests on Maduro’s indictment for transforming Venezuela’s state apparatus into a drug trafficking enterprise.
Shapiro dismissed potential backlash from the United Nations, describing the body as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy” that would condemn the removal of a socialist dictator regardless of humanitarian relief it might bring.
Message to Isolationists
The broadcast concluded with a rebuke of isolationist voices within the American right who oppose intervention. Shapiro argued that removing a regime closely aligned with Iran, China, and Russia restores American deterrence in the Western Hemisphere.
“Trump has the stones to do the thing.”
— Ben Shapiro