By George Hunter, ghunter@detroitnews.com
Michigan elected officials and others took to social media Saturday in reaction to U.S. forces bombing Venezuela and taking the country’s president and his wife into custody in an early-morning strike that U.S. President Donald Trump said was aided by U.S. law enforcement.
Trump posted on Truth social media at 4:21 a.m. Saturday: “The United States of America has successfully carried out a large scale strike against Venezuela and its leader, President Nicolas Maduro, who has been, along with his wife, captured and flown out of the Country. This operation was done in conjunction with U.S. Law Enforcement. Details to follow.”
During a press conference later Saturday, Trump said U.S. forces would take charge of the Venezuelan government.
“We’re going to run it essentially until such time that a proper transition can take place,” Trump said, adding that the action was taken because Maduro oversaw a drug cartel that “flooded our nation with lethal poison.”
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Saturday said in an X post reporting that Maduro has been charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the United States.
“They will soon face the full wrath of American justice on American soil in American courts,” Bondi posted.
The military strike prompted reaction from Michigan activists and elected officials whose support and criticism of the initiative ran along party lines.
U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Holland, praised the strike.
“Anyone connected with Maduro should be viewed as illegitimate,” Huizenga posted on X. “The United States should recognize Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the rightful winner of the past election, as President and work with him in this time of transition until the Venezuelan people can hold a free and fair election.”
But U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, and other Democrats slammed the intervention as unconstitutional since it wasn’t approved by Congress.
“Trump’s first act in 2026? An illegal act of war against another country,” Tlaib posted on X. “Our government can always find money for violence and war. Not a penny for health care.”
U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, was among the Democrats who criticized Trump for initiating the action without going through Congress, which hasn’t approved a military strike since the Iraq War in 2002.
“While the people of Venezuela and the world are safer with Maduro’s violent regime out of power, the Trump administration is putting the world on a slippery slope to a more dangerous, lawless future,” Stevens said.
U.S. Senate candidate and Michigan Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow weighed in Saturday with a statement that began by quoting Trump when he said he didn’t plan to start a war after his reelection.
“Americans have made themselves crystal clear: they don’t want to risk sliding into another costly war abroad. Families are struggling to buy groceries. People are skipping doctor’s visits because they can’t pay for healthcare,” said McMorrow, D-Royal Oak. “To be clear, Maduro is a tyrant who has caused great harm to Venezuelans and Americans. But this administration knew Americans wouldn’t approve. So they went around their own citizens, violating the Constitution and the conversation Americans not only deserve — but have a Constitutional right to — before any decision of this magnitude.”
But at least two other House Republicans backed Trump, including the chair of the House Policy Conference, the fourth most senior Republican in the chamber.
The president “has cracked down on drug trafficking harder than any President in history. … let me put this simply: Maduro is a narco-terrorist. Period,” U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Bruce Township, posted on X. “His illegitimate regime floods our country with deadly drugs and Americans pay the price. President Trump didn’t look the other way; he acted. That’s what leadership looks like, and it’s how you protect the American people.”
U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, praised Trump’s bold action on X: “Me and my buddies fought in a 20-year war because Bush and Obama couldn’t get done in four terms what Trump just got done in four hours. I voted for this!”
James also posted a 2:27 video on X, in which he said: “Venezuela plummeted from one of the richest countries in the Americas to a total pariah state in just a couple of decades. Hyperinflation, starvation, millions fleeing, all because Chavez and Maduro imposed radical socialism, seizing industries, and crushing freedom … but today … justice has finally come.”
U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit, countered that Trump is focusing on foreign affairs over more important domestic issues.
“Only Congress has the ability to declare war,” Thanedar wrote on X. “President Trump’s actions were totally unconstitutional and unacceptable. The American people want us to focus on making life more affordable for them, not starting new wars.”
Metro Detroit has seen a large influx of Venezuelan refugees who fled the country, which has been plagued by starvation and other problems under Maduro and former President Hugo Chavez.
According to the United Nations, nearly 8 million people have fled Venezuela “in search of protection and a better life.”
In November, the Detroit Anti-War Committee held a “Hands off Venezuela” rally in southwest Detroit’s Clark Park. The protesters decried recent actions by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and said war with Venezuela would mean more problems for residents.
Melissa Garriga, a member of the activist group Code Pink that helped organize the anti-war rally last month, said in a statement that the U.S. government “bombed civilian and military sites across Venezuela and illegally kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
“These are blatant and illegal acts of war by the Trump Administration,” Garriga said. “This act of aggression is a continuation of U.S. attempts to seize and plunder Venezuela’s natural resources and undermine Venezuela’s sovereignty as well as the sovereignty of other countries in Latin America. This war also does not reflect the will of the people. Nearly 70% of Americans oppose another war and reject the endless cycle of military interventions carried out in their name.”
The Democratic Socialists of America’s Detroit chapter held a rally at Hart Plaza Saturday, according to the group’s Instagram account.
“Stop the imperialist intervention in Venezuela,” the group posted. “Free the Maduros, impeach Trump and his enablers!”
