DETROIT — In the wake of a daring U.S. military raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from a military base in Caracas, President Donald Trump has claimed widespread enthusiasm from his supporters. But interviews with Trump voters across the country reveal a more nuanced picture: applause for the operation's success mixed with caution about its long-term costs and alignment with the president's "America First" promises.
The raid, which occurred just days ago, saw U.S. special forces swiftly enter Venezuelan territory, seize Maduro, and transport him to a federal prison in Brooklyn, New York. According to Trump, the action has thrilled his base, with the president stating that voters told him, “This is what we voted for.” The operation, conducted without congressional approval, marks a significant departure from Trump's campaign rhetoric against foreign entanglements, echoing past U.S. interventions in the region while raising questions about escalation in Latin America.
Aaron Tobin, a Trump supporter from the Detroit area, expressed unbridled excitement about the raid during a visit to the Oakland County Republican Party headquarters in Michigan. Surrounded by Trump memorabilia, the three-time Trump voter and certified firearms instructor predicted the event would inspire Hollywood blockbusters. “I am thrilled,” Tobin said, adding that the mission's clean execution — with no U.S. troop losses, planes, or ships damaged — makes him eager for similar actions. He speculated that nations like Cuba and Iran might be next, noting, “President Trump does not speak idly. If he says he’s going to do something, he does something.”
Tobin's enthusiasm contrasts with more tempered reactions elsewhere. In Philadelphia, Mississippi, 24-year-old Chase Lewis, an electrician apprentice who switched jobs to boost his income, voiced mixed feelings about the raid. While acknowledging the benefits for Venezuelans escaping dictatorship, Lewis worried about the risks to American service members. “It’s good that they’re finally freed from that dictatorship,” he said, “but I don’t know what it’s going to cost us.” A Trump voter concerned with veteran issues and rising living costs, Lewis highlighted Trump's anti-war campaign stance, calling the raid “depending on how you look at it, ... an act of war.” He urged the administration to prioritize domestic challenges like lowering costs for young people over foreign adventures.
Out West in Castle Rock, Colorado, reactions leaned more positive but still carried caveats. Travis Garcia, 45, a remodeling worker leaning against his red pickup truck on a chilly evening, hailed the operation as a decisive blow against a leader fueling drug flows into the U.S. “Of course I’m going to be happy that they captured a dictator that’s constantly sending drugs our way,” Garcia said. “If we’re not gonna do it, who’s gonna do it?” He praised Trump as “a powerful man who follows through on his word and isn’t going to be shy and timid and let other countries run the rules.”
Nearby in Larkspur, Colorado, flight attendant Mary Lussier, 48, was so impressed by videos of Venezuelans celebrating Maduro's ouster that she supported potential future raids. “Fewer bad leaders would make the world a little bit lesser of a bad place,” she said. However, Lussier drew a firm line at prolonged U.S. involvement, emphasizing that her approval stemmed from the raiders' “smooth efficiency and bravado” rather than direct benefits to America. Like others, she hoped the action would curb immigration and the drug trade without entangling soldiers in extended conflicts.
Not far away, outside a Safeway grocery store in Castle Rock, retired engineer Patrick McCans, 66, wearing a Baltimore Ravens baseball cap, admitted the intervention felt “a little contrary to what he campaigned on.” Preferring diplomatic solutions, McCans nonetheless deemed it “warranted” in this case. “Instead of playing ball, Maduro was ‘playing chicken with Trump, and Trump doesn’t like chicken,’” he said with a chuckle. Colorado Trump voters interviewed by The Associated Press uniformly lauded the military's precision, describing it as executed with “class,” but their support appeared conditional on avoiding a drawn-out war.
In Pennsylvania, sentiments ranged from full-throated approval to cautious optimism. At the Golden Dawn Diner in Levittown, 88-year-old retired tractor-trailer driver Ron Soto expressed unwavering trust in Trump's handling of the aftermath. Dismissing Maduro as an “awful man,” Soto believed the raid had instilled fear in other regimes, potentially deterring further interventions. “I don’t think they’ll have to” go into places like Cuba, he said. Regarding Trump's vague comments about “running” Venezuela, Soto added, “He’ll straighten that country out and make it into a democracy if he can. I don’t know if he can.”
At the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, retired firefighter Kevin Carey, 62, supported the raid but remained alert to escalation risks, recalling the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis as a cautionary tale. “I wouldn’t say thrilled but I’m cautiously optimistic,” Carey said. He believed Trump would take steps to prevent repeats of such events, laughing off speculation about further interventions by joking, “He wants Greenland to be part of America!”
Paul Bonner, 67, a propane company worker shopping at a Trump merchandise store in Bensalem, echoed the conditional backing. “Until he messes up, I support him,” Bonner told reporters. Impressed by the operation's brevity — “They got in and they got out, did what they had to do” — he viewed Maduro as “an enemy of the United States” warranting the action. Bonner browsed for a “Trump 2028” lawn sign to “irritate people,” despite the president's constitutional ineligibility for another term.
Further afield in Martinsville, Indiana, 75-year-old Mark Edward Miller, a retired Air Force aircraft maintenance specialist from nearby Mooresville, found little surprising in the raid except its secrecy. Exiting a Walmart, Miller defended it as proper U.S. policy in the hemisphere. “I don’t feel like he’s actually taken over a country,” he said. “I believe that he’s doing exactly what our country should be doing — supporting, especially in our hemisphere, governments that are friendly with us” and challenging hostile ones. A consistent Trump voter, Miller saw the move as bolstering alliances without overreach.
The raid's context underscores tensions within Trump's coalition, already strained by controversies like the handling of Jeffrey Epstein files and frustrations over expiring health insurance subsidies and rising premiums. Trump had pledged an "America First" approach shunning foreign wars, yet this incursion into a South American nation — so remote that Google Maps reportedly struggles to plot a direct route from Washington — has sparked debate. Congressional Republicans have offered guarded responses, a far cry from their vocal outrage over domestic issues.
Beyond immediate reactions, the operation touches on Venezuela's long-standing crisis. Maduro, accused by the U.S. of authoritarianism and ties to drug trafficking, has overseen economic collapse, hyperinflation, and mass emigration. Trump voters rarely delved into specifics like potential U.S. control of Venezuelan oil reserves, but many hoped Maduro's removal would stabilize the region, reduce border pressures, and disrupt narcotics flows. Officials have not detailed post-raid plans, though Trump has hinted at deeper involvement.
As the dust settles, the raid's implications loom large. Supporters like Tobin envision it as a template for assertive U.S. leadership, potentially deterring adversaries from Havana to Tehran. Skeptics like Lewis fear it could drag America into costly quagmires, echoing past interventions in Iraq or Afghanistan. With Maduro now facing charges in Brooklyn, the focus shifts to Venezuela's power vacuum and whether Trump's bold stroke will unify or divide his base further. For now, early applause persists, but its endurance may hinge on avoiding the "complexities" Tobin acknowledged as the story's next act unfolds.
The operation's success has also highlighted military prowess, with no leaks preceding the raid — a point of surprise for veterans like Miller. Yet amid celebrations in Caracas captured on video, U.S. voters grapple with the balance between projecting strength and honoring isolationist vows. As one Pennsylvania diner patron put it, the fear factor might just keep the peace without boots on the ground.