Venezuela: The First Domino in Trump’s 2026 Strategy

This isn’t a story about Latin America: This is a story about what Trump needs to survive 2026.

Venezuela: The First Domino in Trump’s 2026 Strategy

This isn’t a story about Latin America: This is a story about what Trump needs to survive 2026.

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #645: Wednesday, November 12th, 2025.

The Warning Hidden in Plain Sight

Let me tell you something most Americans haven’t even begun to register yet:

The buildup around Venezuela…has almost nothing to do with Venezuela.

And it has everything to do with Trump’s political survival clock…ticking louder than it ever has before.

Over the last 72 hours…the U.S. moved more military hardware toward the Caribbean than at any point since the Panama invasion.
Venezuela snapped to full mobilization.
Brazil put its military on alert.
Colombia is suddenly “cooperating with U.S. intelligence.”

And the only people pretending this isn’t a massive escalation… are the people who benefit from you not noticing.

So let’s cut through the bullshit:

Trump is setting the stage for a foreign crisis…because he desperately needs one.

Not because he wants to “stop drugs.”
Not because he cares about Maduro.
Not because he’s defending democracy.

He needs a foreign crisis because his domestic position is crumbling.
And a cornered authoritarian always reaches for the same exact lever:

Create an external threat.
Exploit the fear.
Centralize power.
Ride the crisis into the next election.

Sound familiar?
It should.
We’ve lived this movie before.

Only this time… it’s happening 1,300 miles from Miami.

Pull Up a Chair for a Minute

I want to talk to you…like I usually do….like you’re sitting across from me with a cup of coffee, tea…or your favorite drink between your hands…because I know the feeling you’re having right now.

That uneasy “something’s off” sense.

That itch behind the ribs that says….this escalation feels too sudden…too quiet…too convenient.

That instinct you get…when you watch Trump distract the entire country with a new shiny object…every time his support dips two points…or a scandal breaks wide open.

That gut feeling…the one that kept you alive during the Trump Shutdown…during January 6th…during every single “out of nowhere” swerve this man has engineered…is ringing again.

You’re not crazy.
You’re not “reading too much into it.”
You’re not seeing ghosts.

You’re seeing the pattern.

Every president who’s politically bleeding creates a foreign crisis.
Clinton did it.
Reagan did it.
Bush perfected it.
Nixon lived for it.

But authoritarian presidents?
They don’t just create foreign crises.

They weaponize them.

They turn them into loyalty tests.
They use them to justify domestic crackdowns.
They use them to vilify the opposition.
And they use them…to rewrite the political calendar.

That’s what this is.
It’s the opening gambit…in Trump’s 2026 survival playbook.

The Part Where the Puzzle Snaps Into Place

Now let me show you why Venezuela is the perfect crisis…not for global stability…not for national security…but for Trump’s reelection math.

1. It unifies a fractured GOP base

MAGA is splintering:

• Farmers pissed about tariffs

• Veterans furious over the shutdown

• Moderates quietly drifting

• Evangelicals questioning the “chosen one” narrative

• Influencers openly feuding

• High-profile Republicans whispering the “post-Trump” conversation

Trump needs something to glue them back together.

Nothing does that better than:

• A foreign enemy

• A military buildup

• A “Democrats are weak” storyline

• A crisis he can wrap the flag around

Venezuela gives him all four.

2. It flips the shutdown narrative on its head

Right now the shutdown is a flaming dumpster strapped to the back of his presidency.

Federal workers unpaid.
Families without SNAP.
Air travel breaking down.
Chaos everywhere.

So what does an authoritarian do?

Redirect the anger.
Make the shutdown secondary to a “national emergency.”
Paint Democrats as the ones “putting America at risk” the moment troops deploy overseas.

Suddenly, the story becomes:

“Democrats are sabotaging national security during wartime.”

See how fast the script flips?

3. It gives Trump an excuse to increase executive power

Foreign conflict = executive authority spikes.

• Surveillance

• Emergency orders

• Domestic deployments

• Measures “to protect infrastructure”

• Restrictions on protest during wartime

• “Temporary” powers that turn permanent

We’ve seen this exact formula used a hundred times throughout history.

4. It lets him reshape 2026 into a referendum on loyalty…not policy

Trump cannot run on:

• Inflation

• Shutdowns

• Healthcare failures

• Immigration debacles

• Court losses

• Farm collapse

• Crime spikes

• Employer walkouts

• Internal GOP civil war

But he can run on:

• Fear

• Militarism

• Nationalism

• Loyalty

• “Don’t change commanders mid-crisis.”

Venezuela gives him the stage for that pivot.

5. It lets him test the loyalty of the military, the media, and Congress

Every authoritarian uses a foreign crisis to see who salutes and who hesitates.

Trump is watching:

• Which generals push back

• Which Republicans cheer

• Which Democrats take the bait

• Which media outlets soften criticism

• Which federal agencies fall in line

This is the “tightening phase” of authoritarian consolidation.

Venezuela is the proving ground.

The Moment You Need to Understand

Let me talk straight:

You are living through the exact moment where a foreign crisis becomes a domestic weapon.

And unless people understand why this is happening…not the headlines…not the Pentagon quotes…not the cable chatter…but the why…

Trump will get away with it.

He is using Venezuela as:

• a distraction

• a unifying tool

• a propaganda stage

• a pretext engine

• a loyalty test

• and an election lever

Foreign crises…aren’t foreign.
They always boomerang back home.

They become:

• new laws

• new powers

• new excuses

• new abuses

• new assaults on democracy

If you think Trump won’t use this for domestic crackdowns…you haven’t been paying attention.

He’s already testing the boundaries with:

• ICE overreach

• TSA policies

• DOJ manipulation

• Open political prosecutions

• Expanded data sweeps

• National Guard deployments during protests

Add a foreign crisis…and he gets the missing ingredient:

Justification.

Our Shared Resolve Begins Here

Here’s the most important thing I’ll say tonight:

The danger isn’t that Trump invades Venezuela.
It’s that he uses Venezuela to invade us.

Our laws.
Our norms.
Our elections.
Our freedoms.
Our ability to resist.

Venezuela is the first domino…the opening shot in a strategy built for the 2026 battlefield.

This is not the moment to go quiet.
This is not the moment to get tired.
This is not the moment to assume “they” know what they’re doing.

We are the ones who see it first.
We are the ones who can call it out early.
We are the ones who can break the spell.

Your voice matters.
Your clarity matters.
Your refusal to be distracted matters.

The way we beat this…the way we’ve beaten every psychological operation this man has thrown at us…is by refusing to let him rewrite reality before our eyes.

And that’s exactly what this community is built for.

Stay loud.
Stay focused.
Stay un-intimidated.
And stay here…where people actually understand what’s happening.

Because Venezuela isn’t the story.
You are.
Your awareness.
Your vigilance.
Your refusal to blink.

If there’s one thing Trump fears…
it’s an informed public that won’t take the bait.

And that’s exactly who you are.

Before We Wrap…Let Me Tell You What You Just Got

Before I send you to the follow-up…I want you to take a second and actually feel what you just walked through.

Most people will skim a headline today about “U.S.–Venezuela tensions rising” and then walk away with nothing but a vague sense of unease.

You didn’t.

You now understand:

• Why this is happening

• How the escalation fits into Trump’s 2026 strategy

• Where the domestic implications land

• What the media is glossing over

• Which levers authoritarian leaders always reach for

• And why Venezuela is the first domino…not the story itself

You know more right now than 99% of the country…including a frightening chunk of elected officials. Count on it.

This wasn’t an article.
This was intel.

It was a briefing written in plain English…the kind of clarity people pay consultants… think tanks…and security analysts…thousands of dollars to get.

And the fact that you’re here…
reading this…
tracking these patterns…
refusing to be lulled into sleep…

That’s what separates the citizens who witness history from the ones who shape it.

JHN isn’t just a newsletter.
It’s a set of eyes…where most people keep theirs closed.
It’s a fire alarm…in a country full of people…pretending they don’t smell smoke.
It’s a community…built on knowing the truth early enough to respond.

And that is why what comes next matters even more.

Why You Need The Paid Follow-Up

Look… if you’ve been with me for a while…you already know something about how I run this place:

I don’t do paywalls for fluff.
I do paywalls for the things…that actually matter.

This free edition laid out what’s happening.
But the paid follow-up?

That’s where I walk you into the room nobody else will… where we talk openly about:

• How Trump can use this crisis to trigger emergency powers

• Which agencies are already being repurposed for domestic use

• What a Venezuela “emergency” allows him to do inside U.S. borders

• Which groups he’s likely to target first

• And the three most realistic scenarios if this escalates further

This is the part you will not get from MSNBC…CNN…or the nightly shows…because they can’t talk about it without corporate guardrails.

I can.

And…I do.

Because if we’re going to navigate what’s coming…we don’t need comforting narratives…we need…the truth…delivered early…clearly…and without fear.

If you’ve ever thought about upgrading…this is the moment to do it.

Not because I’m asking.
But because the stakes just went up.
And you deserve the full picture…not the sanitized version.

Tap the button.
Join the inner circle.
Get the follow-up.
This is the kind of analysis that pays for itself ten times over the moment the headlines break.

See you on the inside.

Back soon,

-Jack