What Trump Wants in Venezuela

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Jan 6, 2026

Jonathan Blitzer, a staff writer at The New Yorker and author focused on U.S. policy in Latin America, dives deep into the complexities of American intervention in Venezuela. He discusses Nicolás Maduro’s oppressive regime and contrasts Trump’s evolving approach to foreign policy. The conversation highlights the role of oil in geopolitics, the inconsistencies in Trump’s narcotics-related narratives, and how immigration policy intertwines with military actions. Blitzer warns of possible chaos after Maduro’s potential fall, creating a multi-faceted landscape of challenges ahead.

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INSIGHT

Multiple Motives Drove The Venezuela Operation

The Trump administration's capture of Nicolás Maduro didn't fit a single clear national-interest rationale.
Multiple political, ideological, and personal motivations coalesced to produce the action.

INSIGHT

Staffing Shift Opened Door To Intervention

Trump's second term advisors were far more willing to push direct action in Latin America than in his first term.
That staffing shift changed the balance from restraint to intervention.

INSIGHT

Oil Was Overstated As A Strategic Prize

Oil factored into the calculus but is a poor strategic prize today.
Venezuela produces under 1% of world oil and would need massive, risky investment to recover output.

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What is America doing in Venezuela?

On Jan. 3, the Trump administration launched an operation that ended with the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, who is now in New York City on narcoterrorism and weapons charges. “We’re going to run it, essentially, until such time as a proper transition can take place,” Trump said.

Mr. Trump’s policy here is strange for a number of reasons: The U.S. is suffering from a fentanyl crisis, but Venezuela is not known as a fentanyl producer. Venezuela’s oil reserves are not the path to geopolitical power that they might have been in the 1970s. Mr. Maduro was a brutal and corrupt dictator, but Mr. Trump has left his No. 2 in charge. And Mr. Trump ran for office promising fewer foreign entanglements — not more.

So why Venezuela, and why now? That’s the question we look at in this conversation.

Jonathan Blitzer is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He has profiled Stephen Miller and has been following the U.S. military’s drug boat strikes in the Caribbean, as well as the Trump administration’s evolving agenda in Latin America. He’s also the author of the book “Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis.

Mentioned:

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here by Jonathan Blitzer

Alien Enemies Act

1979/1980 Refugee Act

Monroe Doctrine

“How Stephen Miller Manipulates Donald Trump to Further His Immigration Obsession” by Jonathan Blitzer

“Who’s Running Venezuela After the Fall of Maduro?” by Jonathan Blitzer

Book Recommendations:

The Known World by Edward P. Jones

What You Have Heard Is True by Carolyn Forché

The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Jack McCordick. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Aman Sahota. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Marie Cascione, Annie Galvin, Rollin Hu, Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Marina King and Jan Kobal. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

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