Late-night television hosts lambasted the shocking military action targeting Caracas, the capture of the Venezuelan leader, and unclear plans to "manage" the country.
Jon Stewart
Making his first appearance to the show in 2026, Stewart dove straight into the surprise move to remove Maduro from power in early January, an action condemned by more than a dozen countries as a "crime of aggression."
"Without a doubt, this is actually a very dangerous moment for the world," he said. "It's extraordinarily rare for any government to breach the borders of another independent country and pull off a grab and go on their president."
"Look, no one knows how this mission is gonna work out," he added. "However, judging by the United States’ history, my guess is we’re going to be really happy about this for a couple of weeks. And then 30 years from now, there will be a Venezuelan leftist revolution, and the new government will cite this event as the cause our embassy there is on fire. And it will absolutely ruin a Democrat’s presidency. Typically, that’s how this stuff works."
The host further lamented the blatant admission that the operation was driven in part by access to petroleum resources, despite advisors' efforts to paint it as an anti-drug trafficking effort.
"Petroleum. Valuable resource, undoubtedly – but not the reason a country, formed 250 years ago on the principles of freedom and independence, would invade a country and kidnap a man at night," he argued. "You'd think there would be a slightly more noble pretense. Have you never done this before? I mean, what is happening?"
He quipped that the frankness ruined conspiracy theories: "'It's all about the oil' – Yeah, no, I said it was for the oil."
He observed the concerning standard being set: "If we need shit and it’s not too far away, we are going to seize it."
"The people I feel sorry for are the Trump defendants, the excuse-makers, the yes-men, who missed the memo that we no longer have to cloak our military actions in the lofty principles of our nation," he finished. "The reality is, this is completely draining and exposes the great divide in America – not the body of water. The true chasm is the distance between the high aspirations that founded this country and the bullying tactics that these individuals thinks makes us great again."
Jimmy Kimmel
The host returned with a rapid recap of the eventful holiday break. "It would take a multi-part film to explain everything," he joked. "But I’m going to do my best to summarize."
He recalled that the former President recently hosted a televised honors event, which allegedly earned the smallest audience in the ceremony's history. "I pity the staffer who had to tear that headline out and deal with it," he said.
The comedian then pointed out the stark contrast between a stated New Year's resolution and the decision to launch a military intervention just later. "If you were wondering how damaging these released documents are for Trump, turns out they’re 'start a war' bad," he stated.
More absurdly, Kimmel mocked the claim about now managing Venezuela. "He’s going to run Venezuela? He can’t even run the country he runs!" he fumed. "This is like if a failing retailer decided to acquire another bankrupt chain."
The CBS Late Show Host
During his monologue, Colbert addressed the surprise attack. "What does this tell us? Those recently released files must be incredibly damaging," he suggested, taking a drink on stage.
"For the record, Maduro is no saint," he acknowledged. "The question is suddenly decide to capture their president in what appears to be a breach of United States and international law? Well, allegedly, the final trigger was Maduro’s regular public dancing."
"Well, that's a novel excuse," said Colbert after viewing a clip. "Consider this a lesson to every uncle at a wedding."
Colbert then poked fun at the ensuing question of who would run Venezuela, joking it might come down to media companies. "Naturally, Trump has his idea," which is to "run the country until we can have a safe, proper and judicious transition."
"Oh, so this country and Venezuela?" Colbert mocked. "Apparently, when he says 'putting America first' he means alphabetically."
The NBC Late Night Host
"Everyone, Donald Trump made history this weekend by becoming the first-ever winner of a peace prize to initiate a military strike and kidnap its leader," said the host. "It's the biggest surprise since a fictional villain was voted least likely to do something heinous."
Meyers criticized the attempts to spin the attack as a war against drug trafficking, while the President immediately confessed the reason was petroleum. "It's astonishing how Trump constantly undermines everyone around him and confesses the truth," he observed.
He also played a compilation of clips showing past statements railing against "never-ending wars."
"I still can’t actually believe anyone believed Trump was being sincere about being anti-war," Meyers stated. "Did people assume Donald Trump, the most thin-skinned man on the planet, would suddenly discover the concept of caution when he gained control of the U.S. armed forces? Entrusting Donald Trump control of the armed forces is like giving a volatile group an unlimited alcohol and a 'permission to fight' coupon. There’s gonna be a lot of conflict, a lot of crying and a lot of terrible decisions."
