Fetterman defends Trump's Venezuela military operation against criticism from fellow Democrats

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is breaking with many Democrats by praising the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, saying Americans across party lines once agreed he needed to be removed.

"I don't know why we can't just acknowledge that it's been a good thing," Fetterman said Monday on "Fox & Friends."

"We all wanted this man gone, and now he is gone. I think we should really appreciate exactly what happened here."

He described the operation as "appropriate and surgical," noting that Maduro was taken into U.S. custody to stand trial, not assassinated or "disappeared."

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"And it was less than a year ago, President Biden raised the bounty to $25 million," he said.

On January 10, 2025, before then-President Joe Biden left office, the Department of State raised the reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro from $15 million to $25 million. The reward was increased to $50 million on August 7, 2025.

Fetterman pointed to the millions of displaced Venezuelans, many of whom were celebrating after receiving news of Maduro's capture, and emphasized the "chaos and the suffering that Maduro brought to Venezuela."

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Still, many Democrats disagree.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the mission in a press release, warning that even though Maduro was an illegitimate dictator, "launching military action without congressional authorization and without a credible plan for what comes next is reckless."

He added that the Trump administration had assured him it was not pursuing regime change or taking military action in Venezuela. Schumer called for an immediate congressional briefing on the administration's plan going forward and accused the president of using the operation "to distract from skyrocketing costs Americans face and the historic cover-up of the Epstein files."

Fetterman acknowledged that his opinions differed from those of his Democratic colleagues, some of whom have questioned the legality of the mission.

He wanted to "remind everybody that America is a force of good order and democracy, and we are promoting these kinds of values. We are the good guys."