In Removing Venezuela’s Maduro, What Are Trump’s Goals?

In pursuing a months-long military intimidation campaign against Venezuela that culminated in the Jan. 3 capture and removal of President Nicolás Maduro, the US has offered a varied and evolving set of justifications. In seizing Maduro and announcing plans to prosecute him in the US, officials alleged that he was involved in drug trafficking. But President Donald Trump has also made clear he has designs on Venezuela’s oil resources. And Maduro’s removal from power could serve additional interests of his administration.

Trump and top administration officials say their main objective is to stem the flow of illegal narcotics to the US. In the administration’s telling, Maduro’s government is a “narco-state” that enables cartels to traffic fentanyl and cocaine into the country. The administration has accused Maduro himself of orchestrating the Venezuelan drug trade from the highest level of government, a charge that formed the basis of a 2020 indictment during the first Trump administration. US officials have characterized Maduro, who took office in 2013, as an illegitimate leader who posed a direct national security threat to the US.