Politics
WATCH: CNN Forced To Admit Americans Support Trump’s Maduro Capture
A new survey from CNN found a dramatic spike in support for U.S. intervention in Venezuela after the daring pre-dawn raid that captured Nicolas Maduro, the nation’s longtime dictator, on Saturday morning.
CNN’s lead data analyst Harry Enten conceded that the latest survey provided a “dramatic change that I think the president of the United States will like,” before going over the results.
Prior to Saturday’s raid, just 21 percent of respondents supported military action to remove Maduro while 47 percent expressed opposition. Following Maduro’s capture 37 percent of those surveyed expressed support for military action, representing a 16-point swing.
Opposition to military action plunged to 38 percent in the latest survey, a nine-point decline. Additional respondents remained unsure.
“It turns out, Americans like what they deem to be successful foreign policy operations. And in this case, the view the ousting of Maduro, at least up to this point as a successful one and therefore, support is way up,” Enten noted.
Several recent polls on the raid have found similar results, with those surveyed largely split 50-50 on support or opposition, as well as a sizable number of undecided respondents. One survey from the Washington Post found that 40 percent of respondents expressed a positive opinion of the raid compared with 42 percent disapproval, while an additional 18 percent remained undecided.
Another poll from YouGov found indicated 36 percent support for using military force to capture Maduro, with 39 percent opposed. The remainder indicated that they were undecided.
Both polls found sharp partisan divides, with Republicans overwhelmingly supporting the raid and Democrats expressing similar levels of opposition.
Porlamar, Venezuela. September 17th, 2016: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores before the opening ceremony at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Porlamar, Venezuela
Nicolas Maduro was first indicted in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on March 26, 2020, with a superseding indictment unsealed on January 3, 2026. He is currently facing four federal charges, including narco-terrorism, and made an initial court appearance on Monday.
President Trump has made several statements regarding Venezuela’s interim government under Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed the presidency after Maduro’s capture. On January 3, Trump stated the US would oversee Venezuela until a “safe transition” to a legitimate replacement, noting Rodríguez had been sworn in and appeared willing to cooperate.
While speaking at a press conference a day later, Trump stated that the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela and would “run” it with a group of people until properly transitioned, emphasizing US oil companies would repair infrastructure and generate revenue for Venezuelans.
Trump also conveyed several demands to Rodríguez, including cracking down on drug flows, expelling Iranian and Cuban operatives, and halting oil sales to US adversaries. The president has hinted at additional military action if these demands are not met.
