--- title: How the U.S. Public and Politicians Feel About Potential War With Venezuela description: A majority of Americans and even some Republican politicians have expressed concerns about the Trump Administration’s escalating military action. canonical: https://time.com/7336384/venezuela-war-poll-americans-republicans-maduro-drug-cartel-terrorist-designation/ author: Chad de Guzman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-11-24T07:15:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:36:16.484Z article:section: Politics og:title: How the U.S. Public and Politicians Feel About Potential War With Venezuela og:description: A majority of Americans and even some Republican politicians have expressed concerns about the Trump Administration’s escalating military action. og:url: https://time.com/7336384/venezuela-war-poll-americans-republicans-maduro-drug-cartel-terrorist-designation/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb21dc4709aa6f14/6998cbf0f1b082dd506f1e57/no-war-venezuela.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-VENEZUELA-POLITICS-PROTEST og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How the U.S. Public and Politicians Feel About Potential War With Venezuela twitter:description: A majority of Americans and even some Republican politicians have expressed concerns about the Trump Administration’s escalating military action. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb21dc4709aa6f14/6998cbf0f1b082dd506f1e57/no-war-venezuela.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How the U.S. Public and Politicians Feel About Potential War With Venezuela > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Nov 24, 2025 7:15 AM UTC  People protest against U.S. military action in Latin America in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15, 2025. People protest against U.S. military action in Latin America in front of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 15, 2025.Drew Angerer—AFP/Getty Images  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Nov 24, 2025 7:15 AM UTC The U.S. is set to launch new operations against Venezuela and its President Nicolás Maduro, [Reuters reported](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/us-launch-new-phase-venezuela-operations-sources-say-2025-11-22/) over the weekend, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s Administration escalates what increasingly looks like a war against the Latin American nation over its alleged role in the international narcotics trade. Since Sept. 2, U.S. military strikes on alleged drug boats have reportedly killed [at least 83](https://time.com/7317506/us-venezuela-war-powers-international-law-trump-maduro-drugs-cartel-boat-strike/) people in the Caribbean, raising questions about [the legality of such operations](https://time.com/7317506/us-venezuela-war-powers-international-law-trump-maduro-drugs-cartel-boat-strike/) and whether Trump is [seeking a fight elsewhere to ease political pressures at home](https://time.com/7328489/trumps-potential-war-venezuela/). Some observers even think Trump’s ultimate goal may be [regime change](https://time.com/7332032/trump-venezuela-maduro-war/) in Venezuela, seeking to force out the authoritarian Maduro, whose most recent election successive U.S. Administrations have not recognized as legitimate, and whom the State Department alleges to be the head of a cartel recently [designated a terrorist organization](https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2025/11/terrorist-designations-of-cartel-de-los-soles/)—a move Defense Secretary Pete [Hegseth said](https://www.war.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4339943/hegseth-says-designating-venezuelan-cartel-as-terrorist-org-will-bring-new-opti/) Friday brings “new options” to how the U.S. combats “narco-terrorism” in the region. Nothing, including a potential land-based operation, Hegseth said, was “off the table.” But the thought of waging a new war with Venezuela is unpopular in the U.S. A [CBS News/YouGov poll](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-venezuela-u-s-military-action-trump/) conducted from Nov. 19-21 showed that 70% of respondents opposed U.S. military action in the South American country, and 56% believe any military action would have no effect on the amount of drugs entering the U.S. And a [November poll](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/how-americans-feel-about-potential-us-military-involvement-venezuela?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) from Reuters and Ipsos also found that a majority of Americans believe the risks of U.S. military action in Venezuela outweigh the benefits, though attitudes largely split along party lines, with Republicans more supportive. Some prominent Republicans, however, have voiced their own opposition. Sen. Rand Paul (R, Ky.) on Sunday warned of potential fractures within the GOP, where some members have [already questioned](https://time.com/7328672/trump-cartel-bombing-venezuela-republicans/) the Administration’s boat-bombing campaign, echoing congressional Democrats’ misgivings about Trump’s actions in Venezuela. “I think once there’s an invasion of Venezuela,” said Paul on CBS News, “I think you’ll see a splintering and a fracturing of the movement that has supported the President.” “I think a lot of people, including myself,” he explained, “were attracted to the President because of his reticence to get us involved in foreign war.” Paul, who was one of two Republicans (along with Alaska’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski) who [voted with Senate Democrats](https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/11/06/congress/senate-venezuela-vote-00640088) in a failed bid to require congressional approval before Trump takes any military action against Venezuela, criticized the Administration’s latest terrorist designation on Cartel de los Soles, saying: “I think by doing this, they're pretending as if we are at war. They're pretending as if they’ve gotten some imprimatur to do what they want.” Speaking to [the AFP](https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20251123-what-does-us-terrorist-designation-for-venezuela-mean), Mexico-based academic Juan Manuel Trak said the terrorist designation, which went into effect Monday, “creates the perception that some kind of attack is almost imminent” in Venezuela. Trump [said last week](https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRK1u9ejKqa/) that the designation gives the U.S. military more options to target Maduro’s assets, although he also indicated a willingness to speak to Maduro to try to find a diplomatic resolution to the standoff. Other Republicans, while not as explicitly rebuking the Administration as Paul, have also expressed concern about continuing U.S. military activity around Venezuela. Sen. Todd Young (R, Ind.) voted against the legislation that Paul and Murkowski supported, but he clarified in [a statement](https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/young-statement-on-war-powers-resolution/) that his vote was not an “endorsement of the Administration’s current course in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific” and that he is “troubled by many aspects and assumptions of this operation and believe it is at odds with the majority of Americans who want the U.S. military less entangled in international conflicts.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7336384/venezuela-war-poll-americans-republicans-maduro-drug-cartel-terrorist-designation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7336384/venezuela-war-poll-americans-republicans-maduro-drug-cartel-terrorist-designation/"},"headline":"How the U.S. Public and Politicians Feel About Potential War With Venezuela","datePublished":"2025-11-24T07:15:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T00:36:16.484Z","description":"A majority of Americans and even some Republican politicians have expressed concerns about the Trump Administration’s escalating military action.","url":"https://time.com/7336384/venezuela-war-poll-americans-republicans-maduro-drug-cartel-terrorist-designation/","keywords":["Military","Donald Trump","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb21dc4709aa6f14/6998cbf0f1b082dd506f1e57/no-war-venezuela.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chad de Guzman","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb21dc4709aa6f14/6998cbf0f1b082dd506f1e57/no-war-venezuela.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-VENEZUELA-POLITICS-PROTEST","caption":"People take part in a \"Peace with Venezuela\" protest against the U.S. military deployment in Latin America in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on Nov. 15, 2025.","creditText":"Drew Angerer—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7336384/venezuela-war-poll-americans-republicans-maduro-drug-cartel-terrorist-designation/","name":"How the U.S. Public and Politicians Feel About Potential War With Venezuela"}}]}] ```