The Democratic Party is united in opposing Trump's invasion of Venezuela. This is a sign of two important and positive events. The party is not as afraid as it once was of being portrayed by Republicans as “soft” on national security. And Democrats in Congress, having spent the beginning of 2025, were afraid to criticize Trump and voted for many of his Cabinet candidatesbringing the fighting spirit they showed during the government shutdown into 2026.
You might think that it should be easy and expected for Democrats to oppose the ill-conceived, unauthorized overthrow of another country's government by a fascist president. And yes, that's how it should be. But the party has repeatedly made mistakes in foreign policy out of a desperate desire to appear tough and strong. Dozens of Democrats are voting for the Iraq War, the Obama administration's excessive use of drone strikes, Obama's troop surge in Afghanistan, the Biden administration's alliance with Israel as it bombed not only Gaza but countries throughout the Middle East in 2024, and the party's wariness about Trump's opposition to boat strikes in the Caribbean last year is partly rooted in a desire not to portray itself as the party of pacifists. I was worried that Democrats would be reluctant to criticize Trump's actions and would therefore be portrayed as siding with Maduro, and no one is a hero.
Instead, Democrats were loud, angry, and combative. They criticize the administration for lying to them about its plans in Venezuela and for invading another country without even informing Congress. They force debate on the war powers resolution in the Senate – and even attracted five Republican senators to his side on Thursday. They promote laws to prevent invasions of Greenland or any other place. House Republicans will almost certainly block any move to rein in Trump. But Democrats are making clear to the public, the media and countries around the world that most Americans understand that Trump's actions in Venezuela were radical and insane, even for him. This is important and valuable.
