The Commentary Magazine Podcast – EMERGENCY POD: Venezuela!

Date: January 3, 2026

Episode Overview

This emergency episode of Commentary Magazine’s podcast convenes hours after the United States launched a surprise military operation in Venezuela, arresting President Nicolás Maduro and his wife. The hosts—Editor John Podhoretz, Executive Editor Abe Greenwald, columnist Christine Rosen, and Washington Free Beacon Editor Eliana Johnson—analyze the mission's execution, political ramifications, and strategic consequences. They move beyond the breaking news, examining how this operation signals shifts in U.S. military posture, MAGA foreign policy, hemispheric security, and American political discourse.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Astonishing Execution of the Military Operation

• Strategic Surprise & Precision:
  150 aircraft flew low to evade detection; U.S. forces landed near Caracas around 1am, apprehended Maduro and his wife in a 2.5-hour window, and extracted them via Gitmo to U.S. soil for trial. No American casualties reported.
• “This is the second jaw-dropping, astounding American military mission in the last eight months… Total strategic surprise. Complete wild success of the mission itself.” (John Podhoretz, 04:16)
• Intelligence-Military Integration:
  Operation was enabled by “a CIA asset very close to Maduro” and careful monitoring “for months,” combining sophisticated surveillance with elite military units like Delta Force and the 160th Night Stalker helicopters (Christine Rosen, 05:20; Eliana Johnson, 07:02).

2. Operational Security & Congressional Notification

• No Congressional Advance Notice:
  Echoing historical precedent (Grenada, Panama, Abbottabad/Bin Laden), the probability of leaks in Congress was cited as a reason for secrecy.
• “Congress leaks. And you got to say that in total convention of what the first Trump administration was like. This administration does not leak.” (Podhoretz, 09:45)
• Bipartisan concerns emerged post hoc, quickly addressed by figures like Marco Rubio (Eliana Johnson, 10:28).

3. Aftermath: Venezuelan Leadership Vacuum & Uncertainties

• "Who's in Charge Now?"
  Immediate confusion surrounds the succession, with the vice president declaring herself interim president, and exiled opposition leaders (like Machado) entering the conversation.
• “That’s the big challenge now.” (Christine Rosen, 14:46)
• “What does it mean when Trump says, ‘The US is going to run Venezuela?’… It leaves so many questions.” (Abe Greenwald, 14:46)

4. Global Strategic Ramifications

• Revitalized Monroe Doctrine:
  Trump’s national security strategy (November 2025) asserts U.S. primacy in the Western Hemisphere and warns “outside powers”—Cuba, Iran, China, Russia (Eliana Johnson, 17:53; Podhoretz, 18:35).
• “He actually did what he said he would. Now he has actual action to back up what always sounded like hollow threats.” (Podhoretz, 18:36)
• U.S. engagement with Maduro’s Cuban security during the operation and broader warnings to regional actors like Colombia.

5. Redefining MAGA Foreign Policy

• Is “MAGA” Isolationist or Assertive?
  Panelists debate whether the operation signals the end of isolationist MAGA foreign policy or its evolution into “muscular nationalism.” Trump’s approach is described as “very nationalistic, very militaristic, [and] very much a believer in prosecution of power.” (Podhoretz, 39:09)
• “MAGA foreign policy is dead. MAGA is not the right way to put it.” (Podhoretz, 20:03)

6. Message to Global Powers (Iran, China, Russia)

• Credibility of American Threats:
  Trump’s actions—now in both Iran and Venezuela—demonstrate he “backs up” threats, reframing U.S. deterrence.
• “No one can credibly say that Trump makes threats that he doesn’t back up. We’ve seen it now twice, in very spectacular ways.” (Abe Greenwald, 24:50)
• Implications for Iran:
  “The most frightened person right now is the Ayatollah Khamenei… He is very much in potential gun sights. That would be astonishing.” (Podhoretz, 22:06)
• China’s Perception:
  Rosen and Podhoretz debate if these actions have sent a strong enough deterrent message to China regarding Taiwan (44:32).

7. Justification: Narco-Trafficking & Domestic Crime

• Connecting Foreign & Domestic Policy:
  Trump links the raid on Venezuela to tackling the U.S. drug crisis, positioning the mission as a direct boon to American security.
• “He is trying to say, ‘I’m doing this for you,’ the same way I’m trying to deal with crime on the streets in cities…” (Podhoretz, 30:58)
• Discussion of Venezuela as a hub for Hezbollah and Iranian operatives, with historic context from Chavez’s era.

8. Nation-Building and the “Pottery Barn Rule”

• “You break it, you own it”:
  Trump signals a willingness to assume responsibility for post-operation Venezuela, contradicting prior patterns of rapid withdrawal after strikes (Podhoretz, 46:37; Johnson, 48:00).
• “We want to make this better because we need good neighbors… That was really interesting and I think does relate to what was in the national security strategy.” (Johnson, 48:00)

9. Political and Electoral Consequences

• Electoral Upshot:
  The hosts debate whether the operation will affect midterm elections—a topic where they express skepticism about foreign policy’s salience with voters.
• “Foreign policy just tends not to be something that voters cast ballots on. We’re the party of five people in the country, a very, very small minority here… I’m skeptical that this will matter.” (Johnson, 56:56)
• Potential for Republicans to leverage the raid as a display of “strength, power, order.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Raid’s Dazzle:
  “We obviously have unambiguously a military that so far surpasses anything that anybody else has on earth that we need to just take a moment to step back and say, wow.”
  — John Podhoretz (04:16)

• On Intelligence-Military Fusion:
  “It was like a dazzling partnership of our intelligence capabilities and our military capabilities… waiting until conditions were right.”
  — Eliana Johnson (07:02)

• On National Security Strategy:
  “The National Security Strategy that came down in November 2025 has explicitly a mention of a Trump corollary: the United States will reject outside powers’ efforts to displace the United States in the Western Hemisphere…”
  — Eliana Johnson (17:53)

• On Decapitation & Occupation:
  “He essentially endorsed the Colin Powell rule on Iraq in saying that we were going to take over Venezuela. He was like, we’re not going to leave it just sitting there.”
  — John Podhoretz (46:37)

• On Will Versus Capability:
  “We may look at—we should treat China as though it is as powerful as we worry it is… But if they are who they might be, they’re looking at this and going, I just, these guys—when Trump says don’t go into… The best way for them to worry about going into Taiwan is for him to decapitate Maduro.”
  — John Podhoretz (42:59)

• On Boots on the Ground:
  “The one leap here is the boots on the ground. That was the third rail… And we’re not afraid of boots on the ground.”
  — Abe Greenwald (60:17)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Military Mission Details & Execution: 01:21–06:43
• Intelligence & Operational Secrecy: 07:02–11:24
• Venezuelan Succession Confusion: 13:35–16:57
• National Security Strategy & Regional Implications: 17:53–19:43
• Redefining MAGA Foreign Policy: 20:03–24:50
• Implications for Iran & China: 24:50–31:14, 42:31–45:40
• Narco-trafficking Justification: 28:27–32:33
• Pottery Barn Rule & Occupation: 46:37–52:57
• Election Ramifications: 54:05–56:56
• Boots on the Ground—A Paradigm Shift: 60:17–60:48

Tone & Style

The conversation balances astonishment, skepticism, and analytic depth, maintaining the magazine’s trademark combination of intellectual rigor, historical awareness, and wry humor. Panelists frequently refer to their own work and previous episodes, adopting a perspective both “general yet Jewish,” in Commentary’s classic style.

Conclusion

The U.S. raid on Venezuela marks a watershed in American foreign policy, revealing the reach of U.S. military and intelligence power, raising urgent questions about regime change, sovereignty, and the future of hemispheric security—all on the eve of consequential national elections. The panel reaches no consensus about long-term effects, but agrees on the action’s magnitude and unpredictability: “Things change because of things like this.” (John Podhoretz, 59:14)

For listeners, this episode captures not only the shock of the moment but gives a high-level, historically grounded analysis of what might come next—for Venezuela, America, and the world.