Trump's Illegal Act of War In Venezuela
Trump’s bombing of Venezuela and abduction of Maduro shatters sovereignty, invites global chaos, and establishes a doctrine no democracy can survive
Last night, Donald Trump crossed yet another line that cannot be normalized, excused, or spun away. As a human rights lawyer, I do not say this lightly: the United States has illegally bombed a sovereign nation, kidnapped its sitting leader and first lady, and is now attempting to retroactively launder that act through a distorted misuse of criminal law. This is not law enforcement. This is not “peace through strength.” This is an unlawful act of war and an assertion of imperial power that mandates impeachment. In this article I share why this is a violation of international and Constitutional law, the weak legal justification cited by Trump regime, and the broader devastating global implications we now face as a result. Let’s Address This.
The Illegal Attack
Let us be clear on the law. Under Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter, the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state is prohibited. There is no ambiguity here, as the Charter declares:
All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
Meanwhile, in the early hours of January 3, 2026, the United States conducted a large-scale strike on Caracas, Venezuela. The United States Army special forces seized Venezuelan Leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and forcibly removed them from their country. Venezuela has declared a state of emergency. Now, Trump has further announced that the United States will “manage” Venezuela going forward, invite oil companies to control its resources, and use those revenues to fund a U.S. occupation. That is not counter-terrorism. That is textbook imperialism.
Likewise, the Constitution vests the power to wage war in the legislature, not in a single man. And Congress has not authorized this war. When a president unilaterally wages war, abducts foreign leaders, and announces plans to seize another nation’s resources, that is not a policy disagreement. It is an impeachable offense. Venezuela did not attack the United States. There is no UN Security Council mandate. This operation is illegal under international law and unconstitutional under U.S. law. But that isn’t stopping the Trump regime from forcing an absurd legal justification—not dissimilar from the Bush Doctrine used to attack Iraq.
The Illegal ‘Justification’
The Trump regime is attempting to justify its illegal act by claiming this was not a military attack but the execution of a criminal arrest warrant. Somehow bombing a foreign sovereign nation is not a military attack? In a word, absurd. In 2020, Trump’s Department of Justice indicted Maduro on charges including “narco-terrorism” and placed a $15 million bounty on his head. The administration is now claiming “self-defense,” asserting that cocaine constituted a “weapon of mass destruction” being used against the United States. This argument collapses under even minimal scrutiny for at least four reasons.
First, the U.S. government itself has already acknowledged that Maduro does not control a drug trade targeting the United States. As Maduro himself stated in an interview just last Wednesday:
And simply, since they cannot accuse me, since they cannot accuse Venezuela of having weapons of mass destruction, since they cannot accuse us of having nuclear rockets, of preparing a nuclear weapon, of having chemical weapons, they invented an accusation that the United States knows is as false as that accusation of weapons of mass destruction, which led them to an eternal war.
Even on its own terms, the indictment does not allege fentanyl trafficking, stolen oil, or an imminent armed attack. As Representative Thomas Massie correctly observed, if this were constitutionally sound, “the Attorney General would not be tweeting that the President of a sovereign nation was arrested for violating a 1934 U.S. firearms statute. Criminal indictments do not authorize airstrikes on capitals or regime change by force.”
Second, this is where the hypocrisy becomes impossible to ignore. Where was this outrage at alleged drug trafficking just last month when Donald Trump pardoned Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández? Hernández was convicted and sentenced to 45 years for trafficking thousands of tons of cocaine which no doubt cost countless American lives?
Third, if the argument is that Maduro is a dictator and therefore a threat, why did Donald Trump happily welcome self-described dictator of El Salvadaor Nayib Bukele to the White House? And why is he funding Bukele’s concentration camp (CECOT) with millions in taxpayer dollars?
Fourth, what direct threat did Maduro pose to Americans? Maduro has never killed an American, yet is suddenly deemed subject to U.S. jurisdiction anywhere on earth. Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu—credibly accused of war crimes and genocide, with an active International Criminal Court warrant—is shielded from accountability despite killing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, including several Americans. Yet, Trump continues to write Netanyahu perpetual checks exceeding tens of billions of dollars.
We would never conclude that a foreign nuclear power bombing Washington, kidnapping our president, and declaring that it would manage America’s oil “for our own good,” is a sustainable solution to peace. Sovereignty does not become optional because the violator wraps itself in a flag.
The aforementioned hypocrisy conveys the message unmistakable: international law applies only to leaders the U.S. dislikes, and immunity is reserved for those aligned with American power. And likewise, one answer staring us in the face is that none of those nations sit on the world’s largest proven oil reserves—Venezuela does. That standard isn’t justice. It’s literally a redux of 2003 and Iraq, a horrific and illegal war that has left millions of innocent people dead in its wake.
We cannot allow history to repeat.
Devastating Global Implications
Moreover, the global implications are staggering. Just as Trump unilaterally declared Maduro as “criminal” to justify his kidnapping, what principle now prevents China from declaring Taiwan’s leadership “criminal” and seizing it in the name of self-defense? What distinguishes Trump’s actions from Russia’s justification for abducting Ukrainian officials—who by the way Putin has already labeled as “criminal”? By this logic, any nuclear-armed state can kidnap foreign leaders, so long as it issues an indictment of criminality first—international law and due process be damned. The international order cannot survive that doctrine.
Even within Trump’s own party, the illegality is evident. Representative Massie has rejected the constitutional basis of the strikes. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene—no ally of mine—has asked why, if this were truly about drugs, Trump pardoned Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, and why the administration has not acted against Mexican cartels? These are not left-wing critiques. They are basic questions of law and consistency.
All of this is unfolding while roughly five million pages of the Epstein files remain unreleased. Files that implicate powerful men, including Trump himself. The timing is not subtle. When accountability closes in, authoritarian leaders manufacture foreign crises to distract, consolidate power, and claim emergency authority. History has taught us this lesson repeatedly. Indeed, do you think Trump actually cares about Nigerian Christians?
Conclusion
This moment demands clarity and courage. Donald Trump has committed an illegal act of war. He has shattered international law, endangered global stability, and dragged the United States further down the path of authoritarianism. Impeachment is not a political choice here—it is a constitutional obligation.
Two things can be simultaneously true—Maduro is a dictator and acting in violation of Venezuelan and international law, and Donald Trump is an aspiring autocrat acting in violation of international and US Constitutional law. Two wrongs don’t actually make a right. If international law is selectively enforced, it is effectively ignored. And if Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and Gaza have taught anything, it’s that innocent civilians ultimately suffer the brunt of such injustices.
Therefore, it is critical we raise our voices to let our members of Congress know we do not support this illegal war. Especially at a time when 60% of Americans cannot make ends meet, ACA subsidy expiration means an average family of four will pay $800 to $3700 more annually for healthcare, and the cost of housing continues to skyrocket—the last thing we need is another foreign war for oil.
While corporate media continues to whitewash these atrocities, I will continue to sound the alarm, provide legal analysis, and meaningful calls to action to counter this injustice. Be sure to subscribe below to stay in the know.
But the Epstein files will stay hidden for another day.
Newsflash: once he assumed the throne, our democracy died.