On The View, co-host Ana Navarro expressed joy over Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro's arrest and extradition to New York, yet she attributed the action to President Donald Trump's ego rather than concern for Venezuelans. Her co-hosts debated the legality of the Trump administration's precision strikes and extraction mission. Navarro highlighted support from South Florida's immigrant communities for holding the dictator accountable.
The latest episode of The View featured a lively discussion on the Trump administration's operation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The show, airing on Monday, covered the precision strikes in Venezuela that facilitated Maduro's arrest and his subsequent extradition to New York, where he faces trial on drug trafficking charges.
Co-host Sunny Hostin labeled the administration's actions as "100% illegal" and echoed Maduro's claim that he had been "kidnapped." In contrast, Ana Navarro, whose family fled Nicaragua in 1980 following the Sandinista overthrow of the Somoza regime, shared a more nuanced perspective. She acknowledged the personal significance of seeing Maduro, who she said had oppressed Venezuelans for 25 years, in handcuffs.
"The people in South Florida, the Venezuelan community, the Cuban-American community, the Nicaraguan-American community voted for this," Navarro stated, responding to co-host Whoopi Goldberg's question about public support. She described the moment as bringing her to tears, calling it a "very, very happy day" for accountability.
However, Navarro was quick to question Trump's intentions. "Trump doesn’t give a damn about the Venezuelan people," she argued, pointing to his policies on undocumented Venezuelan immigrants in the US. She insisted the intervention stemmed from the president's ego, not altruism. Still, she maintained that criticism of the methods and future implications did not diminish the celebration of removing what she termed a "murderous, corrupt, sadistic" figure from power.
"I think you can criticize and ask questions and have concerns about the way it was done and what this means in the future," Navarro added. "And I think you can still celebrate that this murderous, corrupt, sadistic son of a bitch is out of Venezuela."
The exchange reflected broader media conversations on the operation's implications for US foreign policy and Latin American relations.
