WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump’s shocking ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro shows his administration is serious about dominating the Western Hemisphere, observers say.
In its new national security strategy, released last month, Trump’s administration laid out a plan for U.S. control of the hemisphere that pays little heed to traditional alliance-building.
It was put into practice Saturday with the U.S. military action that led to Maduro’s middle-of-the-night arrest in Caracas.
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Calling himself a decent man and “the president of my country,” Maduro pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in a New York courtroom today.
Senior fellow at the Brookings Institute Vanda Felbab-Brown says the action in Venezuela shows the Trump administration intends to do whatever it wants in the Western Hemisphere.
Former Quebec premier Jean Charest posted on social media that Canadians should be concerned that, for President Trump, “force is now a sufficient reason to impose his will on other countries.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 5, 2026.
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