Schumer Slams Trump Venezuela Arrest After Mocking Policy in 2020

Nearly six years after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., mocked President Donald Trump’s Venezuela policy during the 2020 State of the Union, his words are resurfacing in dramatic fashion following the arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro under Trump’s second administration.

In 2020, Schumer took to the Senate floor to dismiss President Trump’s warnings about Maduro as hollow rhetoric, arguing that the socialist strongman remained firmly entrenched in power. Now, after U.S. forces captured Maduro and transported him to New York to face sweeping narcoterrorism charges, Schumer is warning that Maduro’s removal could spark what he calls an “endless war” in Venezuela, Fox News reported.

Schumer’s original remarks came one day after Trump declared during his State of the Union address that Maduro’s dictatorship would be “smashed and broken,” a claim the New York Democrat derided at the time.

“Maybe his best metaphor was his claim to bring democracy to Venezuela,” Schumer said then. “There’s a big policy there. It flopped.”

“The president brags about his Venezuela policy? Give us a break,” Schumer continued. “He hasn’t brought an end to the Maduro regime.”

“The Maduro regime is more powerful today and more entrenched today than it was when the president began his anti-Maduro,” he added. “Same thing with North Korea, same thing with China, same thing with Russia. Same thing with Syria.”

During that 2020 address, President Trump invited Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó to attend as his guest, recognizing him as the country’s “legitimate” leader after the opposition-controlled National Assembly declared Maduro’s 2018 reelection illegitimate.

“The United States is leading a 59-nation diplomatic coalition against the socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro,” Trump said during the speech. “Maduro is an illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people.”

“But Maduro’s grip on tyranny will be smashed and broken,” Trump added, pointing toward Guaidó seated in the House chamber.

Schumer argued the following day that Guaidó’s presence in Washington rather than Caracas was proof that Trump’s foreign policy had failed.

That criticism stands in sharp contrast to events unfolding now. On Saturday, President Trump confirmed that U.S. forces conducted a successful military operation inside Venezuela that resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Both were flown to the United States and charged in New York with narco terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Maduro and other senior regime figures were first indicted in 2020 under Trump’s first administration for allegedly running a large-scale narcoterrorism and drug-trafficking enterprise. Maduro denied the charges and clung to power, though prosecutors expanded the indictment in 2026. Maduro and Flores made their first court appearance on Monday.

The operation triggered swift backlash from Democratic lawmakers, who criticized the administration for acting without prior notice to Congress. Schumer accused the White House of violating international law and risking a prolonged conflict.

“Maduro is a horrible, horrible person, but you don’t treat lawlessness with other lawlessness,” Schumer said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.

“They went inside Venezuela, bombed civilian as well as military places, and it’s a violation of the law to do what they did without getting the authorization of Congress,” he added.

“The American people are worried that this is creating an endless war,” Schumer said. “The very thing that Donald Trump campaigned against over and over again was no more endless wars.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office and the White House regarding his 2020 comments but did not immediately receive a response.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly forcefully rejected Schumer’s criticism, accusing the Senate Democrat of reversing himself for political gain.

“Chuck Schumer’s Trump Derangement Syndrome is so overpowering that he will flip-flop on anything to attack President Trump,” Kelly said. “Even bringing narcoterrorist Nicolás Maduro to justice.”