The United States pulled off a bold, surgical operation that ended Nicolás Maduro’s grip on power and delivered him into U.S. custody, a result that will reshape the Western Hemisphere. This was not a foreign policy stunt — it was a decisive use of American force at the right moment, the kind of action conservative patriots have been calling for.

President Trump described the mission as a carefully planned, large-scale strike executed with precision, and he repeatedly emphasized that commanders only moved when conditions were right. The imagery of elite U.S. forces striking quickly and returning shows what real deterrence looks like after years of strategic drift.

Mr. Trump made no secret of the administration’s objectives: neutralize a narco-authoritarian threat and stabilize access to vital resources while pushing for a transition away from tyranny. He said the United States would take temporary control to secure the country and get Venezuela’s oil flowing again, a blunt but realistic admission that economic leverage matters in geopolitics.

Critics at home and abroad are already fulminating about legality and sovereignty, but words won’t keep cartels and corrupt regimes from exporting violence and instability to our shores. Foreign outrage is predictable; what matters is that Washington acted to protect American security and end an era of safe havens for narco-terrorists.

Contrast this with the endless slog in Europe where hesitant, incremental policies have prolonged suffering and given dictators time to regroup. Conservatives have argued for decisive solutions for years — not because force is romantic, but because half-measures and moralizing speeches cost lives and invite chaos.

If America is going to remain free and prosperous, we must embrace leadership that uses power wisely and swiftly, not excuses and endless funding rounds that achieve little. Too many in the establishment prefer to talk while the world burns; a nation that won’t act decisively is a nation that will be picked apart.

There will be legal fights, diplomatic fallout, and hard work ahead to secure a stable, free Venezuela, but the capture of Maduro proves a simple point: strength gets results. Hold leaders accountable, demand competence, and back the kind of American resolve that protects our people and interests abroad.