Fox News host Laura Ingraham posed a pointed question Monday night that many Americans are quietly asking: is President Donald Trump on the verge of pulling the United States into another full-scale war?
The question comes amid months of aggressive U.S. military action under the Trump administration, including airstrikes against boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Administration officials have said the vessels were involved in drug trafficking, and the campaign has reportedly resulted in dozens of strikes and significant loss of life. The actions have drawn criticism from opponents, who argue the strikes lack transparency and may raise legal concerns. Many of the targeted vessels originated from Venezuela, a country Trump has repeatedly singled out as a source of instability and criminal activity.
Tensions escalated further last week when Trump announced a “complete blockade” of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, with the United States seizing at least two ships. The president has also publicly stated on multiple occasions that he would authorize strikes against targets inside Venezuela if necessary.
On The Ingraham Angle, Ingraham interviewed Victoria Coates, who served as a deputy national security advisor during Trump’s first term. While Ingraham has largely backed Trump’s hardline approach, she acknowledged that expanding strikes from water to land would represent a major escalation.
Ingraham dismissed Democratic criticism of the campaign, arguing that the left has taken positions that defy common sense. “The more I hear the Democrats, they’re either defending violent criminal illegal aliens in the United States and they want to keep them here,” she said. “Or, they’re upset that narco-terrorists are getting blown out of the water.”
Still, she drew a clear distinction between maritime operations and potential attacks on Venezuelan soil. “Strikes on land is a different matter altogether,” Ingraham said. “It’s obviously an escalation.” She pressed Coates directly on whether Trump risks dragging the country into a war under the banner of fighting drugs.
Coates pushed back strongly on that premise, pointing to Trump’s record. She argued that fears of another endless conflict ignore what Trump has actually done as president. “President Trump, during the first four years of his term and now the first year of his second term, has done a remarkable job of not dragging the United States into wars,” Coates said. “He actually has not done it once.”
She cited what she described as the administration’s brief and decisive military action against Iran earlier this year, which she said lasted roughly 12 hours and ended quickly. According to Coates, that episode demonstrated Trump’s preference for swift, limited force rather than prolonged entanglements.
Coates rejected the idea that Trump would stumble into a long conflict with Venezuela. She said the notion is contradicted by his history and his consistent emphasis on ending conflicts rather than expanding them. “This notion that he is somehow going to be dragged against his will into an extended conflict in Venezuela is defied by his real history and track record in this area,” she said.
Meanwhile, the administration’s objectives appear broader than narcotics enforcement alone. In an interview published Tuesday, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said the campaign against Venezuela is about more than drugs. She indicated that Trump wants to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power, echoing goals Trump pursued unsuccessfully during his first term.
The exchange on Fox News captured a tension at the heart of Trump’s foreign policy: an aggressive posture toward adversaries paired with a long-standing promise to avoid endless wars. Whether the Venezuela campaign remains contained or escalates further may test that balance in the months ahead.
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