Let's Call It What It Is: The International CON

Trump’s Venezuela Move Was a Precedent-Setting Power Grab-and Most People Missed It

Let’s Call It What It Is: The International CON

Trump’s Venezuela Move Was a Precedent-Setting Power Grab-and Most People Missed It

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #717: Sunday, January 4th, 2026.

Not long ago, people were joking about regime change like it was some relic of the Cold War: a word you only saw in dusty history books about the Bay of Pigs and Iraq.

That was before January 3, 2026-the day Donald Trump did it again, this time in Venezuela, by capturing Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military raid and whisking him off to New York for trial.

Let that sink in.

The leader of a sovereign nation-a sitting president-was snatched by elite U.S. forces, bundled onto a warship, and flown out of his own country. He will face U.S. charges. That is not normal. That is not diplomacy. That is regime change, plain and simple.

And the way Trump engineered it? It’s the most audacious geopolitical hustle we’ve seen in decades. A con? No. The con of all cons? If you ask me…it absolutely was.

A Quick Recap (Facts First)

Here’s what actually happened:

1. U.S. Special Forces struck Venezuela at dawn.

Explosions rocked Caracas. U.S. helicopters and assault units entered the capital. Hours later, Maduro and his wife were in U.S. custody. The Guardian

2. They were flown out, charged in New York.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have indictments dating back years, alleging narco-terrorism and drug trafficking. Wikipedia

3. Trump announced the U.S. would “run” Venezuela-at least temporarily.

He said the U.S. would oversee the country until a transition could occur. He even explicitly touted rebuilding the Venezuelan oil industry with U.S. corporations. Reuters

4. International law, sovereignty, and constitutional authority got steamrolled.

Even allied countries…Mexico…Brazil…China…and Russia…publicly criticized the operation as a violation of sovereignty. U.N. legal experts said the operation violated international law. Le Monde.fr

Make no mistake: this was a full-scale U.S. intervention…and despite later backtracking by officials about day-to-day governance…Trump explicitly invoked a plan to control Venezuela’s governance and its oil wealth.

The Con Isn’t Just That He Did This

The con is how he did it.

The official line was supposed to be:

“We’re targeting narco-terrorists and drug traffickers.”

But that was just the wrapping paper. The gift inside was something much bigger… a strategic pivot back to 19th-century Monroe Doctrine power projection…repackaged for the 21st century.

Remember all the build-up over the last year…warships in the Caribbean…military strikes on drug boats…blocades of oil tankers? That wasn’t random. That was the prelude to this moment.

And here’s the part most people didn’t see:

Trump didn’t just want Maduro gone.

He wanted legal cover to justify it.

If he could frame this operation as “law enforcement”…takedown of a narco-terrorist state…then he could avoid talking about war powers…congressional authorization…or invasion.

That’s the political trick. So before the raid…the Trump administration had been publicly insisting this was about drug interdiction and terrorism…not regime change. TIME

Then, when the strike worked…he pivoted.

Suddenly it wasn’t about drugs anymore…it was about running the country until a “safe transition” could be managed. TIME

That pivot is the con.

He used the law enforcement narrative to get into Venezuela…then switched the narrative to regime control and governance once his forces were there. That’s how you bypass public scrutiny…legal constraints…and geopolitical consequences.

That’s how you do a borderline constitutional power grab without calling it a war.

Why This Matters Politically

On its face, Americans will hear:

• “Maduro was a narco-terrorist.”

• “We captured him and brought him to justice.”

• “We’ll make sure Venezuela doesn’t fall into chaos.”

But here is the truth most commentators are missing:

This move sets a precedent where a U.S. president can use military force abroad under a law enforcement guise, seize a foreign leader, and then govern that country …even temporarily…without clear congressional authorization.

That’s huge.

It’s one thing to take down terrorists.
It’s another thing entirely to control a foreign nation.

And make no mistake…Trump didn’t just remove Maduro. He claimed authority over the governance of Venezuela. Reuters

Think about that.

But Don’t Take My Word For It

Let’s look at the reactions:

International condemnation:

From China to Brazil to Mexico…calling this a violation of sovereignty and international law. Le Monde.fr

Latin American governments alarmed:

Many see this as neo-imperial intervention. The Washington Post

Domestic lawmakers

Both Republicans and Democrats raised constitutional concerns. AP News

Regional instability:

Venezuela itself is divided…with acting leaders claiming Maduro is still the legitimate president and refusing cooperation. AP News

That’s not fringe commentary. That’s mainstream geopolitical pushback.

Let’s Be Real

This is not about removing a dictator…well, not just about that.

This is about:

• Reasserting U.S. power in Latin America

• Securing access to oil resources

• Building a new pretext for intervention as a geopolitical tool

• Lighting a fuse under regional relations for decades

You remove a leader. Then you take control of the state’s oil infrastructure. Then you decline to define what sovereignty even means anymore.

That’s not stabilization. That’s geopolitical reengineering.

And here’s the kicker; Trump’s claim that this was not regime change but law enforcement was a setup. Once you get boots over the border…and once you arrest a sitting head of state…the game changes.

It’s now regime change…PERIOD.

The Larger Pattern

Over the past year, Trump didn’t just make noise…he built conditions:

• Naval buildup in the Caribbean

• Blockades on Venezuelan oil tankers

• Strikes on drug boats

• Public pressure on Maduro to step down

• Indictments and bounties for Maduro

• Threats of land attacks

All of this laid the groundwork for a pre-planned intervention.

Now that groundwork has culminated in a real action. And the action didn’t end with Maduro’s capture. That’s the part most people miss.

Trump didn’t just remove a bad leader.

He reoriented U.S. policy toward:

Direct intervention…with or without broad international backing.

That’s the signal.

What This Means For The Future

1. U.S. policy no longer needs to claim to respect sovereignty.

It can now justify outright intervention under thin legal veneer; “law enforcement” in one breath…territorial control in the next.

2. Other nations will notice.

Global powers…Russia…China…Iran…have already condemned this. They see the precedent. Le Monde.fr

3. Latin America will react.

Countries that were neutral may now hedge against U.S. influence. Countries that opposed the strike will reinforce ties with non-Western allies.

4. Domestic politics will shift.

If this stands without challenge…future presidents of either party may feel empowered to use military force without robust congressional oversight.

That’s not hyperbole. That’s structural power shift.

Pulling This All Together

What Trump just pulled in Venezuela isn’t just an isolated military operation.

It’s a blueprint. And it’s about far more than Maduro.

He took:

• a clandestine military pressure campaign

• a law enforcement narrative

• decades of geopolitical tension

• and turned them into a single decisive action

• followed by a claim to govern a sovereign nation

That’s not an accident.

That’s strategy.

But it’s also a con…because the public conversation will focus on:

• drug charges

• removal of a corrupt leader

• headlines about oil

• international reaction

…while the real change…the precedent and the policy shift…slips by unnoticed.

That’s how power works:

First you get agreement on the problem,
then you move to redefine the solution,
and by the time people notice…the new reality is already here.

Trump just did that in Venezuela.

Whether you cheer it…oppose it…or sit somewhere in between…you can’t deny that this was a power play with consequences far beyond the 30 million Venezuelans whose lives were just upended.

He didn’t just win a battle.

He rewrote the terms of engagement.

And that’s the part most people still haven’t woken up to yet.

One thing is clear: this moment demands pushback…diplomatic…legal…and public… before a dangerous new normal quietly locks into place.

BONUS: Why Your Concern Should Be on High Alert-and Your Mindset Calm, Focused, and Exact

There are moments when panic is the enemy.

And there are moments when calm complacency is.

We’ve just crossed into the second category.

What happened with Venezuela is not the kind of event that requires people to freak out…stockpile canned goods…or scream on social media.

That kind of reaction actually helps power consolidate…because it turns serious citizens into background noise.

What it does require is high alert concern paired with disciplined calm.

That combination is rare. And that’s why it matters.

Here’s the distinction you need to internalize:

High alert does not mean emotional.
High alert means awake.

It means recognizing when a precedent has been set…quietly…quickly…and with just enough justification to keep most people arguing about side details while the real shift slides through.

The Venezuela move wasn’t dangerous because Maduro is gone. Maduro was always a symptom.

It was dangerous…because it demonstrated how easily the language of “law enforcement,” “necessity,” and “temporary control” can be stitched together to justify unilateral power…without meaningful constraint…and…without a clear off-ramp.

Once you see that, the appropriate response is not outrage.

It’s focus.

The people who protect democratic norms don’t do it by yelling louder. They do it by refusing to let new rules become invisible.

That’s the mindset shift required now.

You don’t need to assume the worst.
But you do need to stop assuming guardrails will hold on their own.

History is blunt about this:
norms don’t collapse all at once…they erode when exceptions stop being treated like exceptions.

So here’s what “high alert + calm” actually looks like in practice:

First, name patterns early…before they’re normalized.
When a move is framed as “unique,” “temporary,” or “necessary,” ask what precedent it sets if repeated by the next actor…or the one after that.

Second, don’t get distracted by surface arguments.
Whether Maduro “deserved it” is not the core question. Whether oil interests played a role is not the core question. Those debates are loud by design.

The core question is this:
Who decides when law stops applying…and what stops that decision from spreading?

Third, apply pressure upstream…not just emotionally.
That means insisting on legal clarity…congressional authority…international constraints, and explicit limits…before…they’re waived…not after.

Finally, stay steady.
Power thrives on exhaustion. It waits for people to burn out…move on…or accept the new baseline as inevitable.

Your job…our job…is not to panic.

It’s to remember.

To keep attention on what just changed.
To resist the urge to “get used to it.”
To insist that exceptions remain exceptions.

High alert does not mean fear.

It means clarity.

And clarity, applied calmly and consistently…is still one of the most powerful forms of resistance there is.

That’s the posture this moment demands.

#HoldFast

Back soon,

-Jack

Jack Hopkins