Trump just cut the last restraints on the presidency

Who now decides when the United States goes to war, and under what authority?

- JON DUFFY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

IN THE EARLY hours of Saturday morning, U.S. forces entered Venezuelan territory and forcibly removed the country’s head of state, Nicolás Maduro. There was no declaration of war by the United States. No authorization from Congress. No imminent threat publicly articulated before the operation was carried out. Instead, Americans were informed after the fact, through statements framed as assertions rather than explanations.

The Trump administration has since suggested that Venezuela's stability, safety and political transition will now be managed by the U.S. — an extraordinary claim, given the absence of any constitutional or international mandate to do so.

This is not, at its core, a story about Nicolás Maduro. Whatever one thinks of Venezuela’s president — and there are many valid criticisms — the far more consequential question raised is this: Who decides when the United States goes to war, and under what authority?

What makes this moment especially alarming is not just the action itself, but the way it was carried out — involving roughly 150 U.S. aircraft, strikes to dismantle Venezuelan air defenses and helicopter-borne troops inserted into Caracas — the same tools the United States uses in declared wars. Venezuelan officials report fatalities linked to the operation, though details remain limited. But Congress did not authorize this. There was no vote, no debate, no consultation consistent with the War Powers Resolution. Instead, senior members of Congress were briefed selectively after decisions had already been made. No oversight, only notification.

This is not a question of whether Maduro “deserved” removal. It is a question of whether President Trump may unilaterally decide to overthrow another government using American military force — and whether that decision now passes without objection.