Despite public support in the U.S. for deposing Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, President Donald Trump is unlikely to find that level of support for fighting an actual war in that country.
Even as Trump tries to work through Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president and now the acting leader of the country, to manage Venezuela, there are echoes of President George W. Bush in Iraq with Trump saying that the United States will “run” Venezuela and “nurse it back to health” with Venezuelan oil wealth. None of that—which requires a lot of control by Washington and a major presence on the ground—can or will happen without a significant commitment of U.S. military forces, however, which Trump hasn’t ruled out.
“We’re not afraid of boots on the ground,” Trump said.
Yet U.S. citizens have been and remain deeply skeptical of military action in Venezuela. From Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush, history shows that leaders often pay a high political price—and costs to their legacy, too—when wars they start or expand become unpopular.
Author
More on Western Hemisphere
