In dramatic shift, Republicans embrace Trump's Venezuela mission: poll
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Once hesitant or disapproving of using the U.S. military to invade Venezuela, the vast majority of Republicans now say they approve of President Trump's raid and the stunning capture of Nicolás Maduro, a new poll found.
Why it matters: Trump tested his base's appetite for new international incursions — and they have rallied behind him since the stunning Venezuela operation and his claim that the U.S. will "run" the Latin American country.
Driving the news: Nearly three-quarters of Republicans said they somewhat or strongly supported the U.S. using military force to invade Venezuela in a YouGov poll released Wednesday and conducted after last weekend's shocking operation.
- That's a sharp increase from just days prior.
- In an Economist-YouGov survey conducted Jan. 2-5 (Trump announced the operation Jan. 3) 53% of Republicans said they'd support such military force. In a Dec. 20-22 poll, that figure was at 43%.
- Back in September and October, only about three in ten Republicans said they would support military action targeting Venezuela.
- An even larger share of Republicans (78%) now say they approve of using military force to capture Maduro, per the YouGov survey.
Zoom out: Across all U.S. adult citizens surveyed, just over half (51%) somewhat or strongly oppose the country using military force to invade Venezuela. 46% disapproved of the U.S. using the military to capture Maduro.
- A recent Reuters-Ipsos poll similarly found far greater GOP support for the U.S. military action to remove Maduro (65%) compared to Democrats (11%) and all adults (33%).
There was more agreement across party lines on Venezuela's future: 49% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans said a new election should happen next in Venezuela.
- Trump told NBC there's "no way" Venezuelans could vote until the U.S. helps "fix the country" and that "it's going to take a period of time" to bring Venezuela "back to health."
- Instead, Trump's primary focus is on rebuilding Venezuela's oil industry, with American companies taking the lead.
The big picture: Trump has signaled his use of the military to achieve his foreign policy goals won't stop with Venezuela. That's left allies sweating.
- The president has repeatedly said his sights are on Greenland — but public opinion is sharply against him on that front.
- Just 11% of Republicans and 4% of Democrats supported the U.S. taking control of Greenland using military force.
Yes, but: A far larger share — 40% — of Republicans said they supported taking over the self-governing Danish territory without using force, compared to just 4% of Democrats.
Methodology: The YouGov poll of 1,097 U.S. adults was conducted online on Jan. 5 - 6 and has a margin of error for the overall sample of approximately 4 percentage points.
Go deeper: Trump's Venezuela oil play comes into focus
