Defending the United States: Why America’s Military Actions in Iran and Venezuela are Legal, Necessary and Right

June 14, 2026

For too long, certain foreign policy “experts” have told the American people that protecting our nation requires us to politely ask our enemies to stop killing us. President Trump chose to reject that opinion, and the results speak for themselves. The U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, the bold capture of Venezuelan narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, and the sustained military campaign against the Iranian regime spanning February through June 2026 represent not reckless decision making, but the restoration of a fundamental constitutional truth: the President’s first duty is to protect the American people.

Critics, mostly from the radical left and the globalist wing of the foreign policy establishment, have argued these actions lacked congressional authorization. They are wrong — and the constitutional history proves it.

Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution designates the President as “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy.” This is not merely a ceremonial title. For over two centuries, Presidents of both parties have used this authority to conduct military operations to protect American lives and interests without a formal declaration of war. From Jefferson’s campaign against the Barbary Pirates to Reagan’s strikes on Libya, American presidents have acted decisively when threats materialized — and the courts have consistently affirmed this power.

The Trump administration framed the Venezuela operation not as an act of war but as what it legally is: the arrest of a criminally indicted fugitive. Maduro had been under U.S. federal indictment since March 2020 on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, and weapons charges. A superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of New York accused Maduro and his associates of using Venezuela’s institutions to flood the United States with “thousands of tons of cocaine” for over 25 years. The U.S. representative at the United Nations Security Council was entirely correct to reject reactions to the operation as military aggression, describing it instead as “a targeted law enforcement measure to arrest an indicted fugitive.”

For the Iran campaigns, the President invoked his inherent Article II powers and the right of collective self-defense — a position formally communicated to the United Nations Security Council. In announcing the onset of the February 2026 strikes, President Trump stated that the U.S. goal was to “eliminate imminent threats from the Iranian regime.” That is not an abuse of executive power. That is the constitutional commander-in-chief doing exactly what the Founders intended.

Iranians have chanted “Death to America” since 1979. They have armed, funded, and directed terrorist organizations that have killed hundreds of American soldiers and civilians. They have provided advanced weapons to the Houthis to attack international shipping. Iran supplied Russia with drones used to murder more Americans. The reality is that for decades, Iran raced toward building a nuclear weapon while lying to international inspectors.

On June 22, 2025, the United States joined Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — the industrial heart of Iran’s weapons program. The strikes came after months of negotiations that Iran used to stall and advance its enrichment program further. When the last window of opportunity was closing, the President acted. The United States formally communicated its legal justification to the UN Security Council on June 27, 2025, invoking the inherent right of collective self-defense.

A nuclear-armed Iran would have represented a significant threat to American allies in the Middle East and a serious risk to America. The June 2025 strikes began the process of dismantling that threat. They also sent an unmistakable message: America’s patience can run out.

The Maduro regime was not a sovereign government in any legitimate sense — it was a criminal cartel with a flag. Maduro stole the 2024 election in a landslide fraud that even much of the international community acknowledged. He weaponized Venezuelan state institutions to run what federal prosecutors described as a conspiracy enriching his family and political allies by importing “thousands of tons of cocaine” into the United States.

The consequences for America were devastating. The Centers for Disease Control reported approximately 73,000 U.S. drug overdose deaths in the twelve-month period ending April 2025. Venezuela, under Maduro, had become the logistical control center of a narco-terrorism network costing American lives by the tens of thousands.

The Trump administration didn’t act rashly. It designated the Tren de Aragua gang as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, notified Congress in October 2025 that the United States was in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels operating out of Venezuela, and deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group — the largest U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean in nearly four decades — before the final operation. Operation Absolute Resolve concluded on January 3, 2026, with Maduro in custody, transferred to New York to face justice in an American court.

Iran did not learn its lesson after June 2025. Its regime continued to sponsor terrorism, threaten American allies, and pursue the means to build a nuclear weapon. Indirect negotiations conducted through Oman in early 2026 collapsed without a resolution. On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury — a coordinated, large-scale campaign targeting Iranian military leadership, air defenses, missile sites, nuclear infrastructure, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The opening strike struck a leadership meeting in Tehran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dismantling the command center of the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism. The White House stated plainly that the operation’s objectives included destroying Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, ending its support for terrorist groups, and ensuring Iran could never acquire a nuclear weapon. After 38 days of sustained combat, a ceasefire took effect on April 8, 2026. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared the mission a “victory for the United States of America,” noting the operation had “achieved and exceeded” its core military objectives.

Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes across the region, targeting U.S. bases and assets — which only proved President Trump’s actions were validated. A country that launches hundreds of missiles at American forces the moment it faces accountability is not a country with which you can reason.

Even after the April 8 ceasefire, Iran continued to threaten international commerce by targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most critical waterways, through which roughly 20 percent of global oil supply flows. In response, U.S. Central Command imposed a naval blockade on Iran beginning April 13, 2026, costing Tehran an estimated $4.8 billion in lost oil revenue within three weeks.

On May 4–5, 2026, the United States launched Operation Project Freedom, a military escort operation to protect merchant vessels transiting the strait. When Iran continued to target U.S. warships, the United States responded on May 7, 2026, with additional strikes on military sites in southern Iran and Tehran. The freedom of navigation — a principle American naval power has defended for over 200 years — is not negotiable. Every president from John Adams to Donald Trump has understood that chokepoints in global trade are American strategic interests, and that no hostile power has the right to close them.

As of June 2026, the United States continues to apply military and economic pressure on Iran while simultaneously pursuing a diplomatic resolution. U.S. Central Command conducted strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island on June 6, following Iranian strikes targeting the Strait of Hormuz. Additional U.S. military strikes against multiple Iranian targets were launched on June 9–10, 2026, with President Trump warning that the United States would resume full-scale operations if Iran failed to negotiate in good faith.

This is peace through strength in action — the doctrine that President Reagan made famous and that President Trump has now utilized. The United States is not seeking to occupy Iran or rule its people. As President Trump himself stated, the goal is simple: Iran can never have a nuclear weapon, must end its support for terrorism, and must stop threatening American forces and allies. These are not lofty demands. They are the minimum requirements for a stable Middle East and a safe America.

Predictably, the radical left along with the typical sketchy countries have condemned these actions. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea objected to the Venezuela operation — but no serious American patriot should take strategic guidance from that coalition of adversaries. Some European governments displayed additional frustration toward the American actions. Even the UN Secretary-General expressed concern.

None of that changes the fundamental point. The Monroe Doctrine, articulated in 1823, established that the Western Hemisphere falls within America’s territory of highest priority. A Venezuelan state openly run by narco-terrorists, in partnership with Iran, Russia, and China, represents the kind of hostile threats that American leaders have refused to tolerate for over 200 years. An Iranian regime armed with nuclear weapons — led by men who call for death to America and the annihilation of Israel — represent an aggressive threat no President could ignore.

The conservative constitutionalist tradition is not pacifist. It demands responsibility, defined objectives, and a military force that serves American interests — not the demands of insane drug lords and terrorists that have no accountability to the American voter. By those standards, every phase of these operations meets the test.

To be clear, President Trump’s military actions in Iran and Venezuela — from the June 2025 nuclear strikes to the January 2026 capture of Maduro, through Operation Epic Fury in February, Operation Project Freedom in May, and the ongoing June 2026 pressure campaign — are grounded in law, a passion to keep our country safe, and executed with the knowledge of what it takes to defend itself. They reflect a president who takes his constitutional responsibility to defend the American people with the intensity the moment demands. The drug war being waged against American communities deserved a strong, military answer. The Iranian nuclear and terrorist threat also demanded one. My hope is that history will judge these decisions as the moment America stopped apologizing for its own strength.

Sources

https://www.ajc.org/news/the-iran-strikes-explained-how-we-got-here-and-what-it-means

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/the-venezuela-iran-connection-and-what-maduros-capture-means-for-tehran-explained/

https://www.britannica.com/event/2026-Iran-war

https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-Operation-Epic-Fury

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/united-states-bombs-irans-nuclear-facilities

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/venezuela-us-military-strikes-maduro-trump/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-strikes-venezeula-trump-politicians-react/

https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/09/world/live-news/iran-war-trump-israel

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IN12618

https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48887/R48887.1.pdf

https://www.csis.org/analysis/can-iran-negotiations-survive-israel-iran-escalation