Trump treats democracies as enemies, and dictators as friends: Venezuela

The Trump administration's actions following its 3 Jan 2026 military intervention in Venezuela mentioned in our main election comentary page illustrates both points. The intervention captured dictator Nicolás Maduro, who had remained Venezuela's president despite losing its 2024 election by a large margin. The opposition Unitary Platform candidate Edmundo González Urrutia is widely believed to have actually won the election by a large margin; a vote count posted by the opposition based on copies of official tally sheets collected by poll watchers shows González defeating Maduro by more than a 2:1 margin.
The Maduro government's National Electoral Council never released tally sheets or voting data to support its claim that Maduro was the winner.

González had replaced original Unitary Platform candidate María Corina Machado after Maduro's government barred her from holding public office.

After ousting Maduro Trump left the remaineder of Maduro's Chavista government in power, with vice president Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela's acting president. It's worth noting that Rodríguez was (and still is) also the head of Venezuela's notorious SEBIN intelligence and internal security service.

During a press conference just hours after Maruro's capture, Donald Trump stated that he did not see a role for Machado in a new Venezuelan government:
… she doesn't have the support within, or the respect within, the country.She's a very nice woman, but she doesn't have the respect …
Trump did not indicate support for González or any other opposition leader, or even for new elections to replace Rodríguez. This reversed long standing U.S. policy that had favored a rapid return to democratic rule in Venezuela. In a letter filed with the Federal Court in New York on 11 March 2026, Ambassador Michael G. Kozak stated that … the United States is recognizing Delcy Rodriguez as the sole Head of State, able to take action on behalf of Venezuela.

To date the Chavista government led by Rodríguez remains in power.

María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia remain exiled from Venezuela.

Meet the new boss,
Same as the old boss. - The Who, Won't get fooled again, 1971

Trump's swift embrace of Delcy Rodríguez as the leader of Venezuela's Chavista government and his abandonment of her government's opponents raises questions about Trump's motives for the U.S. intervention. Our earlier ">discussion of the intervention alludes to desire to gain control of Venezuela's oil reserves as a possible motive. Trump himself reinforced this during his 22 September 2026 address to the UN General Assembly, where he said
When you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60% of the oil in the world. … It was a war, but it's perhaps the biggest deal ever made. To the victor belong the spoils.

The Trump administration's August decision to partner with a a new oil company let by Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt López (commonly known as Alejandro Betancourt) instead of the U.S. based Chevron might be another indication of Trump's affinity for Venezuela's Chavista government. Betancourt was an ally of the late Hugo Chávez, founder of the Chavista dictatorship that is now led by Delcy Rodriguez.

Reports published by the Washington Post suggest another possible reason Trump abandoned Machado in favor of Rodríguez: Anger over Machado's acceptance of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, an award that Trump had coveted.
We do not think Donald Trump's annoyance over a perceived personal slight is a good basis for U.S. policy.