The Capture of Nicolás Maduro

The Dispatch Podcast

The Dispatch

News, Politics

4.6 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2026

⏱️ 77 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Steve Hayes is joined by Jonah Goldberg, Dispatch contributor Gil Guerra, and retired Army Special Forces officer Mike Nelson to discuss the Trump administration's capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and what happens next. The Agenda:—Gil for The Dispatch: Why We Toppled Maduro—The administration's rationale—Mike for The Dispatch: Causes for Concern and Celebration—The White House's muddled messaging—The "Donroe Doctrine"—Permanent occupation?—No new wars—NWYT: How to pronounce Maduro The Dispatch Podcast is a production of ⁠⁠⁠⁠The Dispatch⁠⁠⁠⁠, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a non-partisan, conservative perspective. To access all of The Dispatch’s offerings—including access to all of our articles, members-only newsletters, and bonus podcast episodes—⁠⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member ⁠⁠⁠⁠by clicking here⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Dispatch podcast is presented by Pacific Legal Foundation, suing the government since 1973.
0:07.3	Welcome to the Dispatch podcast. I'm Steve Hayes. On this week's roundtable, Venezuela, why did Donald Trump order the capture of Nicholas Maduro?
0:16.1	What should we make of the administration's evolving case for the U.S. intervention, and what comes next?
0:21.3	And finally, and not worth your time, is it Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela or Nicolas Maduro and Venezuela?
0:27.6	I'm joined by my dispatch colleague Jonah Goldberg, as well as Mike Nelson, a retired Army Special
0:33.4	Forces officer, a member of the Atlantic Council's Counterterrorism Project, and former
0:37.5	COO of the Institute for the Study of War, as well as Gil Gera, an immigration policy analyst
0:43.0	at the Niskanen Center and the 24 rising expert in Latin America with young professionals
0:48.7	in foreign policy. Gil is also a dispatch contributing writer. Let's dive right in.
1:07.9	Gentlemen, welcome.
1:15.6	We assembled this motley crew to discuss the very significant events over the weekend.
1:23.2	And I will summarize them this way. Early in the morning of January 3rd, a team of elite U.S.
1:28.4	Special Operators supported by various pretty impressive air assets, rated the compound of Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro they extracted Maduro and his wife with zero US casualties
1:34.2	according to the Pentagon and by 430 in the morning the man who ruled Venezuela since
1:38.4	2013 was aboard the USS Iwo Jima and headed to the United States to face weapons and drug charges.
1:45.0	We have in the hours since had a lengthy press conference with Secretary of Defense Pete
1:52.2	Heggseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump, talking us through the decision
1:58.0	and what happened, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, also walking through
2:02.5	the military aspects of this. Marco Rubio made appearances on the Sunday talk shows to further
2:09.0	explain what's happened. We've had confusing, interesting, disquieting back and forth with
2:16.4	the remaining leadership in Venezuela, in public.
2:21.4	And I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk to the three of you about, A, what happened,
	...

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