Missouri and Illinois Republicans praised President Donald Trump's early Saturday morning decision to invade Venezuela and apprehend its president, while Democrats condemned the strike.
Trump announced on Saturday morning that U.S. special forces invaded Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro. The attack came after months of Trump ordering attacks on boats off the coast of the South American country – and members of his administration claiming that the country "stole" American oil.
Trump and his allies have cited a 2020 indictment accusing Maduro of drug trafficking.
Reaction to the news from Missouri and Illinois lawmakers largely fell along party lines.
Republicans like U.S. Reps. Mark Alford of Missouri and Mike Bost of Illinois praised Trump's decision, with both lawmakers accusing Maduro of facilitating drug trafficking into the United States. Maduro has denied those accusations, most recently earlier this week.
"President Trump has once again taken decisive action to protect America's national security interests on the global stage," said Bost, whose district includes a part of the Metro East. "Now, he will face justice. I pray the Venezuelan people seize this opportunity to restore democracy and freedom in their country."
Alford said, "We strongly support President Trump and the administration's bold actions to take illegitimate Venezuelan President and narco terrorist Nicolas Maduro into U.S. custody."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has said Maduro is not the legitimate president of Venezuela. Missouri Republican U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner used that contention in her statement on Saturday morning.
"He will now be held accountable in a court of law. This is a just outcome for the people of Venezuela and everyone around the world who suffered due to Maduro's cruelty," Wagner said in a statement posted on her X account. "As a Member of the House Intelligence Committee, I look forward to a full briefing on this strike when Congress returns this week."
Missouri U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt also praised Trump. He said in a statement on X that "we are a superpower. This is our hemisphere. And we're going to start acting like it again."
"President Trump is taking back control," Schmitt said.
Schmitt's GOP colleague, U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the invasion.
Missouri GOP Congressman Eric Burlison of Greene County said Marduro's capture "is the latest reminder that socialism inevitably fails." Marduro was the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela who became Venezuela's president after the death of Hugo Chavez in the 2010s.
"Maduro's removal was necessary to protect America's interests and our people, and it gives Venezuela an opportunity to choose a different path," Burlison said. "Socialism remains attractive because it promises comfort without responsibility. Prosperity is not delivered by government. It is created by free people in open markets."
Democrats, and some Republicans, were generally more critical of Trump's decision.
Missouri Congressman Wesley Bell, D-St. Louis County, said Trump "once again acted the way he often does — recklessly and without regard for the law — using military force in Venezuela without congressional authorization."
"While Maduro is an illegitimate dictator, the administration has offered no clear legal basis, no serious explanation of the intelligence, and no plan for what comes next. I never doubted that our brave service members could carry out this mission. They're the best fighting force in the world," Bell said. "But when the United States doesn't live up to our ideals, it hands cover to Russia as it wages an illegal war in Ukraine, and to China as it threatens Taiwan."
Democratic Illinois U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski, whose district includes parts of the Metro East, said in a statement that Trump's Venezuelan invasion was "an act of war" undertaken without congressional authorization.
"Any member of Congress who respects the Constitution should be outraged by this reckless escalation," Budzinski said. "Americans do not want another foreign conflict launched without transparency or authorization. I will continue tracking developments, pray for our troops' safety, and demand the briefing Congress is owed."
Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth released a statement alluding to how Trump himself campaigned on ending U.S. intervention in foreign conflicts. He even said during his victory speech in November 2024 that: "They said, 'He will start a war.' I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars."
"This morning we awoke to another stark reminder that he is — and has always been — a liar who has never cared about keeping his promises," Duckworth said. "The Constitution requires the American people, through their elected representatives in Congress, to authorize any President to engage in acts of war — because they will be the ones to live with the consequences of the decision — and it is unacceptable for this President to deny them that responsibility."
In addition to the recent attack in Venezuela, Trump initiated military strikes in Nigeria, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and Iraq since returning to office in 2025.
"There is no question that this careless decision is the culmination of Congressional Republican refusal to hold the executive branch accountable and maintain the checks and balances that are essential to strategic and well-informed foreign policy," said Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City. "Now, because of this dereliction of duty, the president claims our troops and tax dollars will 'run' Venezuela 'until such time as a proper transition can take place.'"
Other Trump critics have lambasted the president for citing drug trafficking as a reason to go after Maduro or to strike boats in the Caribbean. They point out that Trump pardoned former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been serving a lengthy prison sentence for trafficking cocaine into the United States.
"Maduro was unquestionably a bad actor," said Duckworth, a combat veteran. "But no President has the authority to unilaterally decide to use force to topple a government, thrusting us and the region into uncertainty without justification, a defined end-state or a real plan for preventing the instability that could come next. His actions continue putting American troops, personnel and citizens at risk both in the region and around the globe. None of that serves our nation's interests."
Duckworth's Democratic colleague, Illinois U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, said in a statement that he disagrees "with President Trump's use of U.S. military forces without congressional approval" and added that a "Justice Department indictment cannot justify the lack of Congressional authorization."
But he added that Maduro "repeatedly denied the will of the Venezuelan people, including when two thirds of them voted for an end to decades of political and economic ruin and criminality in the summer of 2024."
"I have spoken with opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in recent months and believe she and President-elect Edmundo González have the best interests of the Venezuelan people in mind," Durbin said. "They should be allowed to begin the formidable task of rebuilding their own nation."
St. Louis protest
Several hundred people gathered at Koplar Fountains in Forest Park on a chilly Saturday evening, joining others in various cities across the U.S. for a "No war on Venezuela" national day of action.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation St. Louis, Veterans for Peace Chapter 61, the Democratic Socialists of America St. Louis and other groups sponsored the rally. They called Trump's decision to invade Venezuela an "unmistakable act of war."
Many held signs calling for Trump's impeachment and for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's release. One of the larger signs read: "U.S. hands off Venezuela. No blood for oil." The group marched along West Pine Boulevard and Euclid Avenue chanting in unison: "A people united will never be defeated" and "No more coups, no more wars, Venezuela isn't yours."
Courtney Hadra, a founding member of the Eco-Socialist Green Party of Eastern Missouri, was among the protesters. She criticized Trump for using what she says is "populist language" and for spending money on war.
"He claims to be for peace and for the people," Hadra said. "And that is so clearly not the truth. It's important for Americans to speak up because our tax dollars go towards all of this pillaging that is being done in the global south that we're currently seeing happen to Venezuela. What happens in Venezuela will inevitably come back here with the imperial boomerang."
The group rallied for about an hour and a half and left the area around 5:30 p.m.
This story has been updated with comments from more Missouri and Illinois officials, as well as a protest in St. Louis.
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