The Democratic National Committee’s decision to fundraise off the Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro may go down as one of the most revealing political missteps in recent memory — not just for what it says, but for what it openly ignores.
In a breathless fundraising email obtained by Town Hall, the DNC called the high-stakes operation “another unconstitutional war” and accused Trump of treating the Constitution as “a suggestion.” They claimed Congress was sidelined, painted Trump as a rogue actor, and rallied donors to elect more Democrats who will “check this administration’s power.”
DNC fundraising against the Maduro arrest pic.twitter.com/R4QHkG3q4h
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) January 3, 2026
But this isn’t a case of executive overreach or secret military adventurism. This is about a decades-long enemy of the United States — Nicolás Maduro — who has been indicted on narco-terrorism charges since 2020, whose government has trafficked tons of cocaine into American communities, and who stood accused of leading an international drug cartel — the Cartel of the Suns — whose stated goal was to “flood the United States with cocaine.”
This wasn't a random foreign excursion. This was law enforcement at the highest level — carried out against a known fugitive, wanted for trafficking, weapons violations, and conspiring to attack the United States. And let’s not forget: a $50 million bounty had been posted for Maduro’s arrest. The idea that this somehow constitutes an “unauthorized war” is not just legally dubious — it’s politically tone-deaf.
My full statement on Trump’s unconstitutional military operations in Venezuela: pic.twitter.com/rcieGbPylh
— Ken Martin (@kenmartin73) January 3, 2026
The DNC’s outrage, amplified by Chairman Ken Martin’s statement, is not rooted in the facts of Maduro’s crimes or the threat he posed. Instead, it seems anchored in a single objective: oppose Trump at any cost, even when the action taken is in defense of U.S. security and sovereignty. Martin accused Trump of trying to “endanger Americans” — while ignoring the fact that Maduro has already endangered countless Americans through drug trafficking and terror links.
More troubling is the larger signal this sends. Rather than condemning a brutal dictator known for rigged elections, systemic torture, and human rights atrocities, the DNC has chosen to frame his capture as an assault on constitutional norms. The silence — or in this case, defense — of Maduro’s record is staggering.
.@POTUS: "We want to surround ourself with good neighbors. We want to surround ourself with stability. We want to surround ourself with energy... we need that for ourselves, we need that for the world—and we want to make sure we can protect it." pic.twitter.com/6qlVe6TqJo
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 3, 2026
Yes, the Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war — but that’s not what this was. No troops were deployed to invade a sovereign country. No war was declared. This was a surgical operation to apprehend an indicted transnational criminal, with years of legal and diplomatic groundwork behind it. To twist that into a constitutional crisis is to play politics with national security.
