The justification for the United States’ arrest and capture of Venezuelan President Nicholás Maduro bears an eerie resemblance to that of the Iraq War. President Trump signed an executive order on Dec. 15, 2025, designating the illicit drug fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD), an infamous phrase used by the Bush administration to justify military action 22 years prior. This order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “Immediately pursue investigations and prosecutions into fentanyl trafficking, including through criminal charges as appropriate.” It directs Bondi and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “determine whether the threats posed by illicit fentanyl . . . warrant the provision of resources from the U.S. Department of Defense to the U.S. Department of Justice to aid in the enforcement of Title 18 of the United States Code.” Maduro was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2020 on charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine under Title 18 by the Department of Justice, who offered a $50 million reward for his arrest.
The key difference between Trump’s recent attack on Venezuela and Bush’s war for regime change is the absence of a “credible lie.” To justify an invasion in Iraq, the Bush administration worked tirelessly to convince both Congress and the American people that Iraq was in possession of WMDs and that Saddam Hussein had conspired with Al-Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks. Congress was convinced, passing the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. The American people were convinced, as well, favoring “invading Iraq with U.S. ground troops to remove Saddam Hussein from power” by a 2:1 ratio in a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup Poll in 2003.
When it was clear to the American people that the Bush administration had no evidence that Iraq possessed WMDs, polls demonstrated that over 60% of American adults did not support the war in Iraq.
During his Jan. 3 press conference discussing the attack on Venezuela, President Trump made false claims regarding Venezuela’s role in trafficking fentanyl and cocaine into the United States. Even the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) annual National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) finds no link between Venezuela and global fentanyl production or transportation. The administration’s lies surrounding the attack, however, do not hold the same persuasive power as those that justified the invasion of Iraq. In the case of Venezuela, no considerable work was done by administration officials to convince either Congress or the American people of the credibility of the president’s statements. In fact, they have gone so far as to unabashedly reveal their motives in Venezuela to be regime change and control of the country’s oil, among other resources, further undermining the justification of their actions.
The Trump administration claims that the operation was a “law enforcement operation” which falls outside of the scope of the War Powers Resolution, a 1973 act that lays out the guidelines under which the president can unilaterally conduct a military operation. Law enforcement operations, though, do not typically require the use of missile strikes or result in a civilian death count as high as or exceeding 50. The War Powers Resolution requires the president to “in every possible instance . . . consult with Congress before introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities.” President Trump, on the other hand, did not fulfill the basic requirement of the law, only notifying Congress after the attack had already begun.
Congress’s inability to check the executive branch when the stakes are as high as war should be alarming to those who do the “checking” of these powers. Still, Republican lawmakers lauded Trump’s actions, ignoring the flagrant circumvention of legislative power. On Jan. 8, 2026, the Senate advanced a war powers resolution by the slim margin of 52-47 that would block further military action in Venezuela without congressional approval, demonstrating the readiness of Republican lawmakers to permit the diminution of their authority. In order to become law, this resolution must pass the House of Representatives and then pass both chambers once more with a two-thirds majority to override President Trump’s veto. At this time, it appears very likely that the bill will die at the President’s desk.
For President Trump, even a “credible lie” was not necessary to carry out the action, revealing the dysfunctionality of one of the key failsafes of our republican government.
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