(NewsNation) — The Trump administration has called military efforts in Venezuela part of a larger anti-drug trafficking operation, but one former Trump official speculates it may be about regime change.
U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was taken into custody early Saturday morning after the United States conducted strikes on the South American country.
“I think it’s still unclear whether illegal narcotics is the real issue here or whether it’s an effort at regime change,” former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told NewsNation. Bolton also served as national security adviser in the first Trump administration.
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., said senators were told weeks ago that Trump’s efforts in the region, which included strikes on alleged drug boats, weren’t about regime change.
“Secretaries (Marco) Rubio and (Pete) Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress,” Kim wrote on X.
Bolton suggests Maduro’s arrest could be “Step 1 of a much longer process” if regime change is the real motive.
“I’m glad Maduro is gone, but if the regime remains, the threat to America remains, and the harm done to the Venezuelan people remains,” Bolton said.
Maduro now faces criminal charges in the Southern District of New York.