It’s only been days since an audacious U.S. raid snatched Nicol谩s Maduro from a Venezuelan military base and sped him to a Brooklyn prison, yet Detroit-area Trump supporter Aaron Tobin can already see it all playing out on the big screen.
It’ll be the subject of movies for years to come, he predicts. 鈥淚 am thrilled.鈥� Plenty of others who voted for President Donald Trump and spoke to The Associated Press about the raid are applauding, too 鈥� at least for now.
The seizure of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader and his wife has forced another reckoning on the 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� coalition, already rocked by the Trump administration’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files and strained by rising health insurance premiums and living costs.
Trump promised his voters that 鈥淎merica First鈥� would stand against more foreign entanglements. Instead, he intervened with force and without congressional approval in a new frontier, a South American capital so far from Washington that Google Maps says it 鈥渃an’t seem to find a way there.鈥�
The geopolitical action film that Tobin sees in his mind is only at its opening scene, before all the complexities of uprooting a foreign government by a U.S. president’s fiat come rushing in. U.S. forces entered and exited swiftly. But what happens next?.
Trump finds early but not endless support
Early on, the pushback from congressional Republicans and Trump’s core constituencies has been guarded.
Against that backdrop, Trump voters interviewed by AP journalists around the country praised the operation and expressed faith in Trump’s course. But not always limitless faith.
鈥淚 support him so far,鈥� Paul Bonner, 67, said while browsing at a Trump merchandise store in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. 鈥淯ntil he messes up, I support him.鈥�
Trump’s apparent willingness to stay involved in Venezuela and his intensifying rhetoric about expanding U.S. power elsewhere in the hemisphere are making some of his die-hard supporters nervous.
Not all of them are reaching for the popcorn yet.
In Mississippi, a conflicted Trump voter
Chase Lewis, 24, of Philadelphia, Mississippi, said he still isn鈥檛 sure whether he supports the raid. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good that they鈥檙e finally freed from that dictatorship,鈥� he said of Venezuelans, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 know what it鈥檚 going to cost us.鈥�
He added: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want my friends that are serving right now to be dragged into a war because we went and stuck our nose in Venezuela鈥檚 business.鈥� He noted that Trump had campaigned against starting new wars. 鈥淒epending on how you look at it,鈥� he said, 鈥渢his was an act of war.鈥�
In Colorado, cheers and caution from Trump voters
To Trump voter Travis Garcia, leaning against his red pickup truck on a chilly evening in Castle Rock, Colorado, it鈥檚 a slam-dunk. 鈥淥f course I鈥檓 going to be happy that they captured a dictator that鈥檚 constantly sending drugs our way,鈥� he said, 鈥淚f we鈥檙e not gonna do it, who鈥檚 gonna do it?鈥�
The 45-year-old, who works in remodeling, said the operation reinforces Trump’s stature as 鈥渁 powerful man who follows through on his word and isn鈥檛 going to be shy and timid and let other countries run the rules.鈥�
Mary Lussier, 48, a flight attendant from Larkspur, was so amazed by the success of the mission in Venezuela that she would be OK with more such operations. Fewer bad leaders 鈥渨ould make the world a little bit lesser of a bad place.鈥�
Still, Lussier wouldn鈥檛 want U.S. soldiers stuck in a prolonged conflict, and much of her admiration for the operation hinged less on the possible benefits to the U.S. than on the efficiency and bravado of the raiders.
Outside a Safeway grocery store in Castle Rock, Patrick McCans, 66, said delicately that Trump’s intervention was 鈥渁 little contrary to what he campaigned on.鈥�
鈥淚 would like to see more of a diplomatic way of making change,鈥� said the retired engineer. Still, he said, pondering for a moment, 鈥淚 think in this case it might have been warranted.鈥�
The Colorado Trump supporters interviewed by AP all applauded the military operation鈥檚 smoothness and 鈥渃lass,鈥� as one described it. But that support could waver if the U.S. gets into a longer conflict, which none of them would support.
From Pennsylvania: Good riddance to Maduro
At the Golden Dawn Diner in Levittown, Pennsylvania, Ron Soto, 88, expressed unreserved faith in the president’s ability to manage what comes next.
Maduro is an 鈥渁wful man,鈥� said the retired tractor-trailer driver. But should U.S. forces go into other countries, too, like Cuba? 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they鈥檒l have to,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause he (Trump) put the fear in them.鈥�
In Bensalem, retired firefighter Kevin Carey, 62, pronounced himself supportive of what Trump did but aware of the risks.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say thrilled but I鈥檓 cautiously optimistic,鈥� he said. Carey recalled the seizing of U.S. hostages by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979 as an indication of what might happen if the conflict escalates. But 鈥渉e’ll take all actions to avoid that, I believe,鈥� he said of Trump.
On any further foreign intervention, Carey broke out laughing when he said: 鈥淗e wants Greenland to be part of America!鈥�
Affirmation from the Midwest
Exiting a Walmart in Martinsville, Indiana, Mark Edward Miller, 75, from nearby Mooresville, said the only thing that surprised him about Trump’s intervention was that word of it did not leak in advance. The consistent Trump voter is a retired aircraft maintenance specialist in the Air Force.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 feel like he鈥檚 actually taken over a country,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淚 believe that he鈥檚 doing exactly what our country should be doing 鈥� supporting, especially in our hemisphere, governments that are friendly with us鈥� and challenging those that are hostile.
Tobin, the man in Michigan who sees a cinematic future for the raid, not only approved of the operation but wants more.
鈥淓specially if they were as successful as this last one where we didn鈥檛 lose any troops, we didn鈥檛 lose any planes or ships,鈥� he said.
His takeaway: 鈥淧resident Trump does not speak idly. If he says he鈥檚 going to do something, he does something.鈥�
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Bedayn reported from Colorado, Catalini from Pennsylvania, Householder from Michigan, Bates from Mississippi, Lamy from Indiana and Woodward from Washington.
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