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The Political Scene | The New Yorker

Special Episode: After Maduro’s Ouster, What Are Trump’s Plans for Venezuela?

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The New Yorker

Barack, Politics, Lizza, President, Wnyc, Obama, News, Wickenden, Washington

4.2 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The New Yorker staff writer Jon Lee Anderson joins Tyler Foggatt to discuss the U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the United States to face narco-terrorism charges. They talk about the unprecedented nature of the raid, the shaky intelligence and legal rationale behind it, and what the operation reveals about the Trump Administration’s increasingly coercive approach to the region. They also examine what “running” Venezuela could look like in practice—from leaving Maduro associates in power to exploiting the country’s oil reserves—and how the intervention may reverberate across Latin America. 

This week’s reading:

The Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine’s writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. 

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to a special episode of the political scene.

0:08.9

I'm Tyler Foggett and I'm a senior editor at The New Yorker.

0:12.8

Over the weekend, U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro, along with his

0:18.1

wife, in a dramatic raid and bombing campaign. In the aftermath,

0:23.5

President Trump declared that the United States will now, quote, run Venezuela and give U.S. oil

0:29.5

companies favorable access to the oil. What any of that means in practice, and for how long it'll

0:35.8

last, is still being worked out.

0:38.3

In the meantime, the administration did not rule out more strikes or the potential deployment

0:42.7

of U.S. troops.

0:44.4

The operation against Maduro was the culmination of a months-long pressure campaign on Venezuela

0:49.2

by the United States.

0:51.4

This took the form of a massive military buildup, threats, and controversial

0:55.3

strikes on small boats in the Caribbean, which the administration claimed were ferrying drugs.

1:00.6

But now the reality of regime change in Venezuela raises enormous and pressing questions

1:05.4

about what could come next. I wanted to talk to the New Yorker staff writer John Lee Anderson, who has written extensively about Latin American politics and is deeply sourced in Venezuela.

1:16.7

He even interviewed Maduro back in 2017.

1:19.9

I spoke with John Lee on Monday afternoon.

1:27.1

Hi, John Lee. Thanks for being here.

1:29.3

Hi, Tyler. Great to be with you.

1:31.3

I have to admit that I am still reeling from this story. It seems way crazier to me than the U.S.

1:38.4

bombing Iranian nuclear facilities last year. It even seems crazier than the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the sense

1:45.6

that this involved a large-scale air and ground assault on a capital city and the live capture of a

...

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