A retired U.S. Navy admiral is sounding the alarm over the potential deployment of American troops following the United States’ surprise abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
CNN senior military analyst James Stavridis, a four-star admiral and NATO’s former supreme allied commander, cast doubt on President Donald Trump’s confidence that the United States could easily assume control of the South American country for the foreseeable future.
“I‘m massively concerned about the thinking here,” Stavridis, 70, said on Erin Burnett OutFront on Saturday. “It‘s one of the most violent countries in the world. So the idea that it can be suddenly subdued, I think, is highly questionable.”
Trump, 79, gloated over the United States’ abrupt takeover of Venezuela throughout much of Saturday from his private club in Mar-a-Lago, where he said he “watched it literally like I was watching a television show.”
He announced at an 11 a.m. news conference that the U.S. would run the country—home to just under 30 million people—until new, American-approved leadership was installed.
Trump also revealed plans to seize the country’s oil reserves and warned, “We’re not afraid to have boots on the ground” as part of the takeover.
Stavridis, who served in the Navy for 37 years, warned that Trump was badly underestimating the scale and complexity of what such an operation would entail, drawing comparisons to the U.S. military’s experience in Iraq.
“How many boots on the ground did we have in Iraq?” he asked CNN anchor Erin Burnett. “You know the answer—about 220,000 at peak. And did we subdue Iraq? Nope.”
He also noted that Venezuela is among the most violent countries in the world, citing figures showing 6,884 violent deaths in 2024—a staggering toll for a nation a fraction of the size of the United States, which recorded 16,924 violent deaths that year across a population exceeding 340 million.
“This could be very, very difficult,” Stavridis warned.
When Burnett asked, “Is it fair to say, then, given what the president said, that the United States of America now owns, that we own all of that?” Stavridis replied simply: “You break it, you own it.”
Trump revealed earlier Sunday on Fox & Friends that the U.S. had a “second wave” of strikes ready to launch early Saturday morning, but ultimately held back. With Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, already in custody, it remains unclear what additional targets American forces might have struck. The president said no U.S. forces were killed, though there were “few” injuries in the operation.
On Fox, Trump suggested further military action in Venezuela was still on the table if conditions failed to improve in Maduro’s absence.
“What is the future look like for the Maduro loyalists who are still in Caracas, and I assume, have not yet fled or been removed?” Fox News host Griff Jenkins asked.
Trump responded bluntly: “Well, if they stay loyal, the future is really bad, really bad for them.”
He reiterated the threat later at the news conference. “All political and military figures of Venezuela should know what happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them if they do bad to their people,” Trump warned.
Trump also hinted Saturday that the military campaign could expand beyond Venezuela, floating possible action against Colombia—Venezuela’s western neighbor—and its president, Gustavo Petro. He separately threatened Mexico, a U.S. ally, claiming the country is run by drug cartels, echoing accusations he previously leveled against Maduro and the Venezuelan government.
“Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico,” Trump said.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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