Trump's Venezuela Operation Divides MAGA World: Bannon, Loomer, and Others Sound the Alarm

After years of rallying behind President Donald Trump's promise to keep America out of "endless wars," a new divide is growing among his most loyal supporters, including hardcore allies like Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon. The cause: the administration's expanding military campaign against Venezuela.

The United States has carried out a wave of lethal strikes on boats in the Caribbean and nearby waters, actions the White House claims target drug traffickers tied to Nicolás Maduro's regime. But some of Trump's right-wing allies are openly questioning the mission and warning that Washington may be repeating mistakes of the past, reports The New York Times.

"There are supposed to be incentives for ending wars and conflicts, not starting new ones," said conservative influencer Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer who has advised Trump informally. "This conflict with Venezuela is only going to escalate."

The unease reflects a growing rift inside Trump's conservative movement. Figures such as Stephen K. Bannon and Curt Mills, executive director of The American Conservative, have expressed alarm at what they see as a neoconservative revival inside the administration. On his podcast, Bannon asked bluntly, "Is this just a breeding ground for Neocon 3.0?" Mills replied that "avoidable catastrophe continues to loom," accusing Trump's team of "murdering people randomly with no plan."

At the center of the criticism is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles who has long advocated aggressive U.S. action against Latin America's left-wing regimes. Rubio is reportedly shaping a campaign to force Maduro from power, presenting it as an "America First" operation that would curb migration and drug flows. Inside the White House, his plan has backing from CIA Director John Ratcliffe and policy adviser Stephen Miller.

The Pentagon has already deployed more than 10,000 U.S. troops, warships, and aircraft to the region. Administration officials insist the strikes are aimed at traffickers, but local reports suggest many victims were civilians, including Colombian fishermen. Colombia's president Gustavo Petro has accused Washington of "murdering innocents at sea." Trump responded by calling Petro "an illegal drug dealer" and suspending economic aid to Bogotá.

Critics say the administration has provided no clear legal justification for the killings. Analysts note that two survivors of a U.S. strike were quietly repatriated to Colombia and Ecuador, instead of being detained and charged with drug crimes. "It has implications for how the government treats its own citizens," Mills warned.

For many conservatives, the irony is striking. Trump built his first campaign on denouncing "regime-change wars" and the "deep state" hawks who fueled them. Yet his administration now appears to be coordinating with the CIA to undermine another foreign government. "It doesn't pass the laugh test," Mills said.

Defense scholars are also alarmed. Jennifer Kavanagh of Defense Priorities compared the rhetoric around Venezuela to the early years of the war on terror: "You hear talk of cartels as the new Al Qaeda. That kind of framing justifies military adventures that have no endgame."

Others, like Latin America analyst Daniel DePetris, argue that Trump's policy reveals his broader obsession with dominance in the Western Hemisphere. "He's using the military hammer for problems that don't have military solutions," DePetris said. "Rubio is using the drug war as a Trojan horse to get Trump into Caracas."

Meanwhile, reports suggest Maduro has offered to grant U.S. companies bigger stakes in Venezuela's oil fields to prevent escalation, an overture Trump rejected earlier this month. Loomer, however, questions that decision. "If Trump really wants to push back against China's influence," she said, "the smartest move is to negotiate, not bomb."

The debate leaves Trump navigating a political minefield: a conservative base that loves his "America First" message but fears his actions in Latin America could ignite the very kind of war he once vowed to avoid.