Video: ‘Handled very well unlike Iraq’s mess that spawned ISIS,’ Trump defends Venezuela regime change
United States President Donald Trump
Abdullateef Fowewe
United States President Donald Trump has praised the U.S.-led operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on January 5, 2026, contrasting it sharply with the post-2003 chaos in Iraq.
“Remember in Iraq, they got rid of everybody. They had no generals, they had no people. They had nobody to run the government. It turned out to be a mess,” Trump said in the 24-second footage obtained by Dailyeconomy.
He directly blamed Iraq’s de-Baathification for creating ISIS, adding, “And that’s where ISIS came from, came from the military and all the people, they formed ISIS. It was handled very badly. But this is handled very well.”
The remarks come on the one-month anniversary of Maduro’s capture, as the U.S. pushes oil sector reforms and a new executive order slapping tariffs on countries trading with sanctioned entities like Cuba.
Trump framed the Venezuela intervention as a success story, avoiding the leadership vacuum that plagued Iraq.
