The Daily Show host regarding Trump’s Venezuela Military Intervention: 'This is All Exhausting'

Late-night television hosts tore into the shocking military action targeting Caracas, the seizure of President Nicolás Maduro, and nebulous plans to "govern" the country.

Jon Stewart

In his return to the show in 2026, the comedian dove straight into the shock decision to extract Maduro from power in the first days of the year, an action condemned by numerous countries as a "act of war."

"Without a doubt, this is an incredibly dangerous moment for the world," he stated. "It is highly unusual for any government to violate the airspace and territory of another sovereign nation and execute a grab and go on their head of state."

"Look, no one knows how this endeavor is gonna work out," he continued. "But based on the United States’ past, my estimation is we’re going to be really happy about this for a short period. And then 30 years from now, there will be a socialist uprising in Venezuela, and the new government will point to this moment as the cause our embassy there is on fire. And it will absolutely ruin a Democrat’s presidency. Generally, that’s how this nonsense works."

The host further mocked the frank confession that the operation was driven in part by desire for crude oil, even after advisors' efforts to paint it as an counter-narcotics effort.

"Oil. Valuable resource, undoubtedly – but not the justification a nation, founded 250 years ago on the principles of liberty and self-determination, would go into a country and kidnap a man at night," he argued. "There must be a slightly more noble justification. Have you never done this before? I mean, what is happening?"

He joked that the frankness ruined conspiracy theories: "'It's all about the oil' – Yeah, no, I said it was for the oil."

He observed the dangerous precedent being set: "Whenever we want something and it’s not too far away, we are going to take it."

"The people I feel sorry for are the apologists, the defenders, the yes-men, who haven’t received the message that we don't need to cloak our military actions in the lofty principles of our nation," he concluded. "Look, this is all exhausting and exposes the great divide in America – not the body of water. The real Gulf is the distance between the noble ideals that embody this country and the bullying tactics that this crew believes makes us great again."

Jimmy Kimmel

Kimmel came back with a quick summary of the eventful end-of-year period. "You'd need a multi-part film to explain everything," he joked. "I'll try to boil it down."

He reminded viewers that Trump recently presided over a major awards ceremony, which allegedly earned the lowest ratings in the ceremony's history. "I pity the staffer who had to tear that headline out and deal with it," he mused.

Kimmel also pointed out the stark contrast between a stated New Year's resolution and the launching of a military intervention just two days. "To give you an idea of how damaging these released documents are for Trump, apparently they’re 'start a war' bad," he stated.

Even worse, Kimmel mocked the claim about now managing Venezuela. "He plans to govern another country? He can’t even run the country he runs!" he fumed. "This is like if a failing retailer decided to buy another failing retailer."

The CBS Late Show Host

During his monologue, Colbert addressed the unexpected operation. "Do you know what this means? Those documents must be crazy," he said, sipping on stage.

"Let's be clear, Maduro is not a good guy," he acknowledged. "So why suddenly decide to snatch their president in what appears to be a breach of United States and international law? Well, allegedly, the final trigger was Maduro’s regular public dancing."

"OK … that’s a new one," he reacted after viewing a clip. "Consider this a lesson to every enthusiastic dancer."

Colbert then mocked the ensuing question of who would govern Venezuela, suggesting it might come down to streaming services. "Of course, Trump has his plan," which is to "run the country until such time as a safe, proper and judicious transition."

"Oh, so this country and Venezuela?" he joked. "Apparently, when he says 'America first' he means in the dictionary."

Seth Meyers

"Everyone, Donald Trump made history this weekend by becoming the first-ever winner of a peace prize to initiate a military strike and kidnap its leader," joked Meyers. "It's the biggest surprise since a notorious character was voted least likely to do something heinous."

Meyers criticized the attempts to justify the attack as a war against narcotics, while the central figure immediately admitted the reason was oil. "It’s really just amazing how Trump just undercuts everyone around him and confesses the truth," he observed.

He also played a series of clips showing past statements railing against "foreign entanglements."

"It's hard to comprehend anyone believed Trump was telling the truth about being anti-war," he said. "You really thought Donald Trump, the most thin-skinned man on the planet, would suddenly discover the concept of caution when he gained control of the world’s most powerful military? Entrusting Donald Trump control of the U.S. military is like giving a volatile group an open bar and a 'one free slap' coupon. There’s going to be a lot of conflict, a lot of crying and a lot of terrible decisions."