Sen. Rand Paul accused his colleague, Sen. Lindsey Graham, of being the mastermind behind President Trump’s recent, surprising decision to send U.S. special operators into Caracas to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, as per The Hill. This whole situation is a huge concern for Paul because he sees it as a complete reversal of President Trump’s long-standing opposition to costly nation-building efforts.
Paul believes Graham has been a major factor in changing the president’s thinking on foreign policy. He noted that there are countless clips of President Trump previously stating he wasn’t for regime change because it always goes wrong.
Paul told reporters, “This is Lindsey Graham. Lindsey Graham has gotten to the president who expressed, I saw a clip, there’s like 20 clips of [Trump] saying he’s not for regime change and how regime change has always gone wrong. Somehow they’ve convinced him it’s different if it’s in our hemisphere.” It’s clear Paul is worried about the growing influence of hawkish Republicans like Graham on the administration’s strategy, especially regarding Venezuela.
This shift isn’t exactly a surprise if you’ve been watching Graham’s advocacy
Last month, Graham expressed extreme frustration when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators during a classified briefing that regime change in Venezuela was absolutely not an option the administration was considering. Graham was ready to see Maduro go, even then.
The South Carolina senator didn’t mince words after that meeting. He publicly asked, “I want to know what’s going to happen next. Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be, if it’s not. And if he goes, what’s going to happen next? I’d like a better answer as to what happens when Maduro goes.” With Maduro now captured, Graham is already looking ahead to the next phase of regional change. He responded to the news on social media with a simple, powerful message: “Free Cuba.”
However, not all of President Trump’s allies are cheering this interventionist turn. Some of his most dedicated MAGA supporters are expressing serious disappointment over the evolving foreign policy views.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a long-time supporter of the president, argued that Venezuela isn’t an immediate U.S. concern and the administration should focus on problems closer to home. She reminds us that President Trump “campaigned on Make America Great Again” and people who voted for him “thought [he] was putting America first.”
Greene believes the administration is looking in the wrong place for threats. She firmly stated, “Our neighborhood is right here in the 50 United States, not in the Southern Hemisphere.” This division highlights a significant internal struggle between the isolationist wing and the interventionist hawks within the Republican party, all centered around President Trump’s ultimate decision-making.
It looks like the president decided to side with the hawks this time around, and that’s going to cause some serious friction moving forward.
Published: Jan 6, 2026 12:00 pm