Cosmopolitics by Elise Labott

Folks: If you missed my conversation with former US envoy to Venezuela Elliott Abrams, I encourage you to watch the recording. Elliot’s knowledge and insights bring essential context and nuance to this complex story.

I write more about how the administration’s strategy, or lack thereof, will impact the region well beyond Trump’s term in the post below. Tomorrow I will discuss the administration’s designs on Greenland and the potential consequences of the US moving to acquire it.

Cosmopolitics depends on reader support. If you value serious foreign policy journalism and interviews with guests like Elliot, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Three days into the new year, President Donald Trump did something that should make every American who remembers Iraq deeply uneasy: we invaded Venezuela, seized its president, and casually announced the United States would “run” the country until “we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.”

The successful raid was remarkable, but the phrase - “run Venezuela” - should haunt us. The last time American presidents talked confidently about managing other countries after toppling their leaders, we got two decades in Iraq and Afghanistan. Colin Powell famously called it the “Pottery Barn rule”: “You break it, you own it.” We owned both countries for decades. Trump himself was elected on promises to end these “forever wars.” This time he thinks he’s discovered a loophole.

The LatAm Pivot

Exactly two years ago, I wrote that Latin America was “the overlooked wallflower in American diplomacy” - viewed through the lens of immigration and drugs but sidelined for Middle East crises and the pivot to Asia. I argued it was time to wake up and smell the café con leche: the region’s strategic importance had been grossly underestimated.

For decades, U.S. policy oscillated between heavy-handed interventions and benign neglect - like a gardener who only notices the garden when it’s overrun with weeds. This left a vacuum China gleefully filled. As Larry Summers put it: while the U.S. offers lectures, China builds airports.

To Trump’s credit, his team finally recognized what I and others had been arguing: Latin America matters. The problem is how he’s acting on that recognition. Instead of strategic investment and partnership, Trump has embraced a military-backed spheres of influence approach- carving up the world where America dominates the Western Hemisphere, Russia gets Europe, and China takes Asia. Everyone stays in their lane.

It sounds almost rational until you remember what spheres of influence produced in the 20th century: imperial powers dividing up other people’s countries without consent, leaving catastrophe in their wake. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 was meant to keep European powers out of the Americas - not give American presidents license to invade them. Trump calls his version the “Donroe Document” and declared: “Under our new National Security Strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

Putin and Xi’s responses were surprisingly muted because Trump just adopted their playbook. “Ukraine belongs to Russia’s sphere” is Putin’s main argument. “Taiwan is part of China’s sphere” will be Xi’s justification. Trump just gave them permission slips.

This is where Trump’s spheres of influence collide with Powell’s Pottery Barn rule.

What Trump really wants

When asked why an “America First” president would take over a South American country, Trump didn’t equivocate: “We want to surround ourselves with energy. We have tremendous energy in that country. It’s very important that we protect it. We need that for ourselves.”

This obviously isn’t about democracy - drugs are a secondary concern. For sure it’s blunting Chinese, Russian, and Iranian influence. But it’s mostly about oil and establishing that if you nationalized American oil assets in 1976, we can take them back 50 years later. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick helpfully noted steel and aluminum industries could also be revived “for U.S. benefit.”

Here’s the problem: Venezuela nationalized its oil in 1976. So did Mexico in 1938, Iran in 1951, and Bolivia, Argentina, and Ecuador at various points. Trump just established that decades-old resource grievances justify military intervention. That’s not a doctrine. That’s a protection racket with an exceptionally long memory.

The leftist regime domino theory

Trump’s ambitions extend beyond Venezuelan oil fields to a broader campaign driving out leftist governments across the hemisphere. His administration is engineering a political realignment across an entire hemisphere with military force as the lever.

Cuba tops the list. Thirty-two Cuban military and intelligence personnel died in the Venezuela raid - that’s not just alliance, that’s entanglement. Trump noted Cuba’s critical vulnerability: “Cuba only survives because of Venezuela.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio - whose primary interest has always been Cuba - warned this weekend: “If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned.” Cut off the oil, watch the economy collapse, wait for the 66-year-old communist government to fall.

Colombia - our decades-long partner on counter-narcotics - got sanctioned because President Gustavo Petro maintains an “alliance with Maduro.” Think about this strategic disaster: Colombia hosts 2.8 million Venezuelan refugees and possesses the critical intelligence we need. Many cartels operate in Venezuela precisely because Colombian cooperation pushed them out. We’ve eliminated our most important partner at the most critical moment.

Mexico, our second-largest trading partner, is also on notice. Trump claims cartels run the country, and officials confirm he’s “very interested” in sending Special Forces. President Claudia Sheinbaum insists “it’s not going to happen,” but Trump’s Venezuela operation suggests sovereign consent is optional.

Nicaragua’s Ortega also faces threatened 100 percent tariffs and increasing isolation.

The pattern is unmistakable: pressure leftist governments while rewarding right-wing allies. Argentina’s Javier Milei got $20 billion. El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele got his travel warning removed. The Summit of the Americas - the premier hemispheric forum - was canceled for the first time in 31 years due to “deep divisions.”

No exit strategy

Trump is celebrating the capture of Maduro and declaring the U.S. is “in charge” of Venezuela. But he has no clear plan for what comes next.

Trump apparently believes he can topple Maduro, install compliant leadership, extract oil concessions, and move on. But Venezuela is a failed state of 28 million people - twice the size of Iraq - where the regime maintains only fragile control beyond Caracas. The country is simultaneously heavy-handed authoritarian and absolute anarchy.

And the regime hasn’t actually been removed. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino remains - also under U.S. drug indictment. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello stays - also indicted. The military is intact. So is the Cuban-designed surveillance apparatus (albeit one that failed to detect the American raid).

Trump says he’ll work with Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, as interim leader. This isn’t regime change - it’s dictator change. The same officials who created the worst migration crisis in Latin American history get to keep running things, just now with American blessing and oil company access.

If Rodríguez doesn’t “behave,” Trump threatened a “second strike.” We’re not managing a transition - we’re threatening ongoing military intervention to coerce compliance. That’s textbook mission creep. The Pentagon has already built the largest U.S. military presence in the hemisphere in decades - more than 15,000 troops. Trump says America is “not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to.”

And this is just Venezuela. Cuba’s government looks vulnerable without Venezuelan oil, and Florida Republicans are salivating for action. Ortega’s Nicaragua faces escalating pressure. Petro in Colombia continues criticizing U.S. policy, inviting potential escalation. Meanwhile, migration will continue because nobody’s actually fixing the conditions that drive people to flee.

Before long, we could be managing - or more accurately, failing to manage - multiple weak states across Latin America, all demanding American attention, resources, and military presence. Unlike the Middle East, which we could at least pretend to pivot away from to focus on other concerns like Asia, this is our neighborhood. If being stuck in the Middle East felt endless, imagine being bogged down in simultaneous interventions in our actual backyard - each one supposedly quick and clean, each one metastasizing into something nobody intended.

This is how a quick raid to grab one guy turns into a decades-long quagmire where nobody remembers the original objective.

No three-year return policy

President Trump will be gone in three years, term-limited out in January 2029. If Venezuela descends into chaos, if Colombia destabilizes, if we’re managing cascading crises across Latin America - none of it will be his problem. He’ll be in Mar-a-Lago, taking credit for “ending the Maduro regime.” He won’t be thinking about 2035, just his next golf game.

But America will still be there with troops deployed and credibility further shredded by another regime-change adventure that morphed into something nobody intended. We thought we’d learned this lesson after Iraq’s phantom WMDs, after Afghanistan’s collapse during evacuation, after Libya became a militia playground. We supposedly internalized that toppling dictators is vastly easier than building stable governments.

Trump has a different theory he’s now testing across the hemisphere: that power projection without responsibility is what dominance means. That the Pottery Barn rule was always just bureaucratic excuse-making. That you can break things and walk away.

Whether Trump admits it or cares, America will own these pieces - sharp, dangerous, expensive pieces - long after he’s gone.. That’s not partisan criticism, friends. That’s how history works. Ask George W. Bush whether “Mission Accomplished” aged well.

Three years from now, Trump will hand someone else this mess. And we’ll spend a generation cleaning it up.

Thank you BY GLENN KESSLER, Cash Flow Collective, David Galinsky, Jaime HG 🇺🇸, GeorgeCarlinWasRight, and many others for tuning into my live video with Elliott Abrams! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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It was great to see so many of you on Monday for our year-end show . Danielle Pletka and love our #HTHH community! If you weren’t able to catch us live, here is the full recording…best watched with a strong cocktail.

Look for more Hot Takes in 2026. In addition to our weekly news roundups, we’ll come to you with more analysis of breaking news and deeper dives on hot-button issues.

We don’t have regular “show notes” this week, but I encourage you to check out this MUST READ by Dany. WTH: We need better leaders.

You might have noticed that I’ve been offering more Cosmopolitics content without the paywall over the past few months. I have been trying to keep as much as possible free. But I need your help. Cosmopolitics is an entirely reader-supported publication, and it takes work to keep all of the reporting, critical analysis and interviews going.

Thanks to all of you who have already taken advantage of our holiday sale—30% off an annual subscription, continuing through New Year’s Day. We have exciting things ahead for 2026. Unlock our full archive of nuanced foreign policy analysis and exclusive subscriber-only content now, all for less than the cost of a coffee a month! A gift subscription is also gift for that Cosmopolitan in your life looking for serious foreign policy coverage. They’re also discounted at 30 percent!

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful and safe New Year and wish you and yours all good things in 2026.

Thank you Cash Flow Collective, David Galinsky, Bud Jones, Candace Head-Dylla, Lana, and many others for tuning into my live video with Danielle Pletka! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Always great to see you all:

Dany has assembled some good reading material (links below about the debate over whether Congress has the sole power to declare war when it comes to Venezuela, as well as some objections to the President’s military campaign - including from conservatives -that are worth reading.

Here’s a nice little outtake from an analysis by the Constitution Center

In modern times, however, Presidents have used military force without formal declarations or express consent from Congress on multiple occasions. For example, President Truman ordered U.S. forces into combat in Korea; President Reagan ordered the use of military force in, among other places, Libya, Grenada and Lebanon; President George H.W. Bush directed an invasion of Panama to topple the government of Manuel Noriega; and President Obama used air strikes to support the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya. Some commentators argue that, whatever the original meaning of the Declare War Clause, these episodes (among others) establish a modern practice that allows the President considerable independent power to use military force.

Dany (with an assist from her lawyer hubby, Stephen) notes that no White House has recognized the War Powers Resolution as binding or constitutional, and that’s unlikely to change. Which is why most conflicts in the modern era were fought without authorization and without a declaration of war—and without serious effort by Congress to claw back any prerogatives it might have. Congress isn’t without power, however. It can cut off funding for military action, for example. That isn’t being discussed because Congress is asleep at the wheel. When they wake up and decide to start governing, maybe they will consider it. Probably not.

As Dany and I discussed—the issue here is not that President Trump is using military force. Like with many of his policies, including tariffs, deployment of the National Guard, and so many others, it’s the legal justification his administration uses. One reason could be that there are so many agendas, but no real strategy.

Send us your comments and see you next week!

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and please subscribe to Dany’s razor-sharp insights at What the Hell is Going On?

SHOWNOTES

Dany’s piece #WTH Donald Trump is not wrong about Europe

Elise’s piece : Power without Purpose and discussion with Barbara Starr on Venezuela, Hegseth and National Security Strategy

Kamala Harris interview with NYT

Some Venzuela reading and war powers texts:

The Terrorism Confusion in the Caribbean (National Review)

War and the Constitutional Text

Declare War Clause

Thank you David Galinsky, Quilt for change, Lana, Kevin Lehigh, lotta kuylenstjerna, and many others for tuning into my live video with Danielle Pletka! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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I love talking with my friend and former CNN colleague Barbara Starr. Few journalists can cut through the noise to focus on what truly matters like she can - and this conversation was no exception.

If you weren’t able to watch live, check out the recording. Barbara broke down the US military campaign in the Caribbean and the potential drain a long deployment could place on the force. She spoke to the heart of what the latest campaign against Venezuela is really about and explained how President Trump seems to be marginalizing Pete Hegseth. (Check out her latest below on who at the Pentagon now has Trump’s trust).

She also has sharp insights on the Trump administration’s new National Security Strategy: the broader dangers of abandoning NATO, and why the Venezuela campaign is a prime example of how military power alone—however important—won’t be enough to improve American influence in the Western Hemisphere.

Cosmopolitics depends on reader support. If you value my work and conversations with guests like Barbara, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Barbara’s latest: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is the man to watch

Elise’s latest: Power without Purpose

Thank you Frida Ghitis, Chris Kelley Cimko, Musings on Interesting Times, Kimberly Briedis, Rebecca Rains Floyd, and many others for tuning into my live video with Barbara Starr! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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For those of you who didn’t catch my live conversation with Steven A. Cook, here is the recording. As always, Steven’s insights on Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s visit to Washington, and the evolution of US-Saudi relationship were sharp, thoughtful, and essential for anyone looking to understand the transformation of the Gulf.

Thank you GG Haegelin, lotta kuylenstjerna, Hava Salita, BCz, Align, and many others for tuning into my live video with Steven A. Cook! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Dany and I covered a lot of ground this week. We discussed this week’s elections and Democratic victories, including Zoran Mamdani’s win; the Supreme Court’s deliberations on President Trump’s tariffs and his meeting with Chinese President Xi; Nancy Pelosi’s announcement that she won’t seek re-election; and the Heritage Foundation’s disturbing reaction to antisemitism among Republicans like Nick Fuentes and Tucker Carlson. If you didn’t get a chance to catch us live, here’s the recording. Show notes below.

Let us know what you think and, as always, send us questions and topics for next week!

As I mentioned, I spent last week at Stanford University meeting with various professors and officials about their civics programs. I was really encouraged by their efforts to teach students about civil discourse and civic engagement and encourage them to practice it on campus - something I feel passionately about and am actively working on. More on that to come.

Having uncomfortable conversations with efforts to understand alternative points of view - and some humor! - is exactly what Danielle Pletka and I seek to do with this little weekly show. There’s a lot on which we agree, but just as much on which we don’t. Most importantly, however, we express our views respectfully. We hear each other and appreciate where the other is coming from, even when we hold opposing views on the details.

If you value our discussions, please recommend #Hot Takes Happy Hour, What the Hell is Going On? and Cosmopolitics by Elise Labott to your networks and consider becoming a paid subscriber.

SHOW NOTES

Dany’s piece: #WTH New York forgets its past (Substack, Nov. 4, 2025) and podcast: #WTH: What do Mandani and the Socialists really believe? (Substack, Oct 30, 2025)

Elise’s piece on China: The art of the long game (Substack, Oct. 31, 2025)

Trump’s China Deal Is a Major Indictment of U.S. Trade Policy (The Dispatch, Nov. 5, 2025)

Trump: I’ll Work with China, Not Canada (AEI, Oct. 27, 2025)

Heritage-affiliated antisemitism task force to cut ties with embattled think tank (Jewish Insider, Nov 6. 2025)

How Tucker Carlson instigated an inevitable war within MAGA (Washington Post, Nov. 6, 2025)

The Buckley Test: Can the Right Still Police Its Own? (The Free Press, Nov. 6, 2025)

Dany’s piece on Heritage: #WTH Sorry is not enough (Substack, Nov. 3, 2025) and podcast: #WTH: How do we keep Neo-Nazi out of the conservative movement

Bonus: Hillary Clinton quote in Pakistan in 2011 about its support for the Haqqani network, a terrorist group launching attacks in Afghanistan :

“You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them only to bite your neighbors.”

(Now you get the metaphor about MAGA’s association with antisemites like Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes)

Thank you David Galinsky, Hava Salita, Veronique Rodman, and many others for tuning into my live video with Danielle Pletka! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Friends: Sorry I am sending out our recording and show notes later than usual - I’ve been traveling the last few days.

Last week Trump finally discovered the sanctions button. After months of playing footsie with Putin while Europe nervously chain-smoked cigarettes in the corner, Trump concluded that “good conversations that don’t go anywhere” was in fact Putin’s way of blowing off his efforts to end the war. Russia helpfully announced they are “immune” to the sanctions. But India is reportedly ready to dump Russian oil. The Kremlin responded by hitting a Ukrainian kindergarten.

In Israel, leave it to Netanyahu’s coalition to vote on West Bank annexation while Vice President J.D. Vance was literally in the country – kind of the diplomatic equivalent to setting your neighbor’s lawn on fire while they’re standing in your driveway. Vance called it “a very stupid political stunt” and said he was “personally insulted.” Which, let’s be honest, could be the most relatable thing Vance has ever said.

And just when you thought the week couldn’t get more dystopian, the Pentagon decided to Marie Kondo the press corps, keeping only the outlets that “spark joy” by signing a pledge to serve as Hegseth’s propaganda, which apparently means Gateway Pundit and Mike Lindell’s fever dream streaming service. Fox News? Too mainstream. But LindellTV? That’s journalistic integrity, baby.

Dany and I discuss all this and more. As always, let us know what you think - and send us suggestions for Thursday’s episode. Hope to see you then!

Cosmopolitics is a reader-supported publication. If you value my reporting and conversations with guests like Dany, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

SHOW NOTES:

What’s the significance of US sanctions on Russian oil? (BBC, October 22, 2025)

U.S. to Provide Ukraine With Intelligence for Missile Strikes Deep Inside Russia (Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2025)

Dany’s piece and podcast with Jack Keane – #WTH How to Destroy Hamas (Substack, Oct 28, 2026)

Elise’s interview with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib: The Palestinian voice you need to hear (Substack, Oct 23, 2025)

Why J. D. Vance Just Called an Israeli Parliament Vote ‘Stupid’ and an ‘Insult’ (The Atlantic, October 24, 2025)

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2025/10/why-j-d-vance-just-called-an-israeli-parliament-vote-stupid-and-an-insult/684676/

Pentagon touts ‘next generation’ press corps of mostly right-wing outlets (The Hill, October 22, 2025)

After U.S. bailout, Argentine voters give Milei a friendlier Congress (Washington Post, October 27, 2025)

Trump Pardons Founder of the Crypto Exchange Binance (New York Times, October 23, 2025)

Thank you David Galinsky, Bud Jones, Candace Head-Dylla, Lana, Kimberly M Schofield, and many others for tuning into my live video with Danielle Pletka! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Hope you will join me and Danielle Pletka lTODAY at 5p for #Hot Take Happy Hour: On the menu: Russia sanctions, Vance and Rubio in Israel and #WTH in Venezuela. Plus whatever happens today - you just know there will be something. See you there!

If you missed my conversation with Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib , the recording is essential viewing - and I mean that. In wide-ranging discussion that was at times heartbreaking and at others cautiously hopeful, Ahmed offered the kind of nuanced perspective on Gaza’s future that’s become vanishingly rare in our polarized discourse about this conflict.

Ahmed, who writes the Substack The Radical Pragmatist heads Realign for Palestine at the Atlantic Council, but his credentials don’t capture why his voice matters so profoundly right now. He’s a Gaza native who left at 15 and received political asylum in the United States in 2007 - literally the day Hamas took over the Gaza strip. He’s lost about three dozen members of his family in this war, several of whom opened their homes to displaced families and were killed while sheltering dozens of Palestinians.

Yet Ahmed has maintained remarkable empathy and clarity about both Israeli and Palestinian suffering and responsibility- a position that’s earned him serious threats from Hamas supporters while also drawing accusations of being insufficiently pro-Palestine from activists who’ve never set foot in Gaza. As he told me: “I wouldn’t do this differently. I hold Hamas responsible for our people’s suffering.”

Ahmed’s assessment was blunt: While Trump deserves credit for stopping the killing and bringing hostages home, phase 2 of his plan is remains “strictly theoretical.” There’s no concrete plan for the international stabilization force, no clarity on which countries will contribute troops or funding, and no governance structure for Gaza..

Meanwhile, Hamas has come out of its tunnels and reasserted control - deploying armed forces, executing alleged collaborators in public squares, and demonstrating they’re very much armed and still in charge. Ahmed noted that many pro-Palestine activists who opposed police violence domestically are now celebrating Hamas killing people they label as “gangsters and looters.” And he is convinced Hamas will attempt to be “recycled” into the new security apparatus rather than removed.

One of the most compelling parts of our conversation addressed a question I hear constantly: where are the moderate Palestinian voices who can build a better future?

Ahmed believes there is no shortage of Palestinian talent. Tens of thousands of Palestinians - academics, engineers, journalists, bureaucrats - are ready to serve. But the corrupt PA/Hamas/PLO infrastructure blocks them. He sees the solution as decentralized governance for the West Bank and Gaza separately under a “broad umbrella” of statehood,

Ahmed sees Gaza as the test case - a chance to demonstrate that Palestinians can govern and prosper when given a fair chance. But the window is closing fast. If phase 2 of Trump’s deal stagnates, if Hamas gets rehabilitated instead of removed, if moderate Arab states remain sidelined, if no pathway emerges for new Palestinian leadership - the opportunity may be lost for a generation.

“Moderates need wins to emerge, he said. “They must be able to show their people that moderation pays off. Moderation brings a better life.”

Ahmed’s vision requires Palestinians taking agency, building state institutions, and moving away from perpetual victimhood narratives. But it also requires sustained international pressure to actually implement rest of the deal, sideline Hamas and empower moderate voices with tangible wins.

Watch the full conversation. Ahmed’s perspective - informed by profound personal loss, deep connections across the region, and a commitment to breaking the cycle of violence - offers something increasingly rare: a pathway forward that doesn’t require choosing between Israeli and Palestinian humanity. We need more voices like his.

Cosmopolitics is a reader-supported publication. If you value my reporting and conversations with guests like Ahmed, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Thank you Cash Flow Collective, Tita D., and many others for tuning into my live video with The Radical Pragmatist! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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Former National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted yesterday. Unlike the politicized cases against James Comey and others, this one has teeth. The Washington Post notes the indictment was signed by Kelly O. Hayes, a respected veteran prosecutor, and Tom Sullivan, who heads Maryland’s national security division—both career prosecutors, not Trump appointees overruling their staff. The timing may be political. The case itself? Less so.

Venezuela: My conversation with Elliott Abrams, Trump’s former envoy to Venezuela, is essential viewing (link in show notes). If you think US action there is just about drug cartels, think again. Abrams offers crucial context on the administration’s regional strategy, US interests at stake, and what recent military strikes and Trump’s CIA directive really mean for Maduro’s regime.

Party rebels gone wild: Sen. John Fetterman now faces a 2028 Democratic primary after his approval among Democrats collapsed from 80% to 33%—while Republicans suddenly love him at 62%. Meanwhile, Marjorie Taylor Greene is earning praise from Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer for breaking with GOP leadership on ACA subsidies and Epstein files, even as the White House calls her actions “hostile.”

We are also watching Hamas fresh reign of terror in Gaza and Trump’s frustrating willingness to give Putin yet another chance with a potential meeting in the works. Stay tuned.

Show Notes

Former Trump aide John Bolton indicted over handling of classified material (Washington Post, October 16, 2025)

Elise’s conversation with Elliot Abrams, Is the US seeking regime change in Venezuela (Substack,m October 17, 2025)

Top military officer central to Trump’s drug war will step down early (Washington Post, October 16, 2025)

Puppet Regime (Instagram - GZero Media)

Dany’s piece: In the Middle East, there is no “new beginning,” Substack, October 16, 2025) and podcast episode with Dan Senior #WTH Is Happening With Middle East Peace?

Democrats plot Fetterman’s ouster (Axios, October 16, 2025)

Why Marjorie Taylor Greene is defending Obamacare subsidies (Washington Post, October 17, 2025)

Thank you David Galinsky, Andrea LeDew, Kathy J., JP, lotta kuylenstjerna, and many others for tuning into my live video with Danielle Pletka! Join me for my next live video in the app.

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If you weren’t able to catch my conversation with Elliott Abrams here is the recording. As the former US envoy to Venezuela during President Trump’s first administration, his perspective is essential viewing for anyone trying to understand the administration’s current approach to Venezuela and its president, Nicolás Maduro.

Lest you think recent US actions against Venezuela are simply about drug cartels, Elliott offered a wide-ranging assessment of the situation in the country, the administration’s broader regional strategy, and the US interests at stake—putting the recent military strikes and President Trump’s CIA directive in crucial context.

I’ll be writing more about Venezuela in the coming days, informed by Elliott’s thoughtful insights.

Cosmopolitics a reader-supported publication. If you enjoy my conversations with important guests like Elliot, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.

Thank you David Galinsky, Lisa Staruch, Amber, Jean Rhode, P. Michael Weisser, and many others for tuning into my live video with Elliott Abrams! Join me for my next live video in the app.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.cosmopolitics.news/subscribe