GOP lawmaker says Democrats have ‘egg on their face’ after Trump’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro

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GOP lawmaker says Democrats have ‘egg on their face’ after Trump’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast defends operation as carefully planned, not 'protracted war'

Taylor Penley Fox News

Published

January 4, 2026 10:01am EST

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Trump weighed risks and future in Venezuela operation, House Foreign Affairs Committee chair says

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., discusses the success of President Trump’s operation in Venezuela and voices his support on "Fox Report."

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House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., pushed back Saturday against Democratic criticism of President Trump’s capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro, arguing the administration carefully weighed risks before acting.

"Democrats have total egg on their face[s] from previous operations saying we're going to be in these protracted long-war operations that did not take place," Mast said on "The Big Weekend Show."

"President Trump is not the protracted war president. He is the person that is going in there with any operations, saying… what is the mission that has to be accomplished?"

Mast contrasted Trump’s approach with past administrations, pointing to limited strikes in Syria during Trump’s first term and efforts to lay the groundwork for a conditions-based withdrawal from Afghanistan.

KAMALA HARRIS BLASTS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CAPTURE OF VENEZUELA’S MADURO AS ‘UNLAWFUL AND UNWISE’

A side by side of President Donald Trump and Nicolás Maduro.

President Donald Trump (left) ordered a military operation that led to the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro (right). The move drew both praise and criticism across Washington. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

He also cited a recent targeted operation against Iran, which he said neutralized threats without triggering a broader conflict or violating U.S. war powers.

As Democrats questioned the legality of the operation, other Republican lawmakers defended it Saturday, including Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton.

"The legality is very well established," Crenshaw said, citing the first Bush administration’s capture of former Panamanian strongman Manuel Antonio Noriega and the Obama administration’s actions against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi as precedent.

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DEA agents at Westside Heliport in Manhattan

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration arrive at the West 30th Street Heliport for the arrival of captured Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro on Jan. 3 in New York. (Stefan Jeremiah/AP Photo)

"You're going after a person who's indicted in U.S. courts, and you're going after someone who we've established as an imminent danger to U.S. national security," Crenshaw added.

Cotton echoed that argument, saying Congress does not need to be notified when the executive branch carries out arrests of indicted individuals.

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Rep Dan Crenshaw applauds Trump’s ‘bold action’ against Venezuela’s Maduro

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"Congress isn't notified when the FBI is going to arrest a drug trafficker or a cybercriminal here in the United States, nor should Congress be notified when the executive branch is executing arrests on indicted persons," he said Saturday on "Fox & Friends Weekend."

"That's really what you can make the analogy to here. In fact, the FBI was part of this operation, part of the arrest of Maduro and his wife, who were indicted here in the United States, so Congress doesn't need to be notified every time the executive branch is making an arrest."

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Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.

GOP lawmaker says Democrats have ‘egg on their face’ after Trump’s capture of Venezuela’s Maduro