Democrats and Republicans have very different views about the recent U.S. military action in Venezuela that involved capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. But they differ less on what should happen next in Venezuela, according to a new YouGov poll conducted entirely after Saturday's military action.
Since at least September, more Republicans than Democrats have supported military action to invade Venezuela, but the gulf has widened. In the latest poll, conducted on the Monday and Tuesday after the military action, 74% of Republicans and 13% of Democrats strongly or somewhat supported a U.S. invasion. The share of Republicans in favor of invading Venezuela has risen quickly, to 74% from 43% two weeks before the recent attack.
Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say the military action in Venezuela was the right decision (70% vs. 7%), as they are about last June's bombing of nuclear sites in Iran (74% vs. 17%). Republicans generally are more likely than Democrats to endorse the decision to make other military interventions since World War II, but the actions during Donald Trump's second term have by far the biggest partisan gap of those included.
Majorities of Democrats say the military action in Venezuela was illegal under U.S. law (74%) and international law (76%). Only 10% and 14%, respectively, of Republicans agree; majorities say the action was legal under U.S. law (68%) and international law (55%). Independents are about twice as likely to say it was illegal than legal under U.S. law (45% vs. 22%) and three times as likely to consider it illegal than legal under international law (49% vs. 16%).
Why do Americans think the U.S. used military force to intervene in Venezuela? The most commonly cited major reasons for doing so — among the ones offered on the poll — are increasing U.S. access to oil (53%), preventing drug trafficking (41%), removing corrupt leadership from power (37%), increasing U.S. power globally (37%), and distracting Americans from domestic political issues (37%).
Democrats assign more negative and cynical reasons for the military action in Venezuela than Republicans do. Democrats are more likely to say increasing U.S. access to oil (69% vs. 39%) and distracting Americans from domestic political issues (58% vs. 9%) are major reasons for the military intervention. More Republicans than Democrats cite as major reasons preventing drug trafficking (77% vs. 18%) and removing corrupt leadership from power (68% vs. 16%).
The U.S. government's ouster of Maduro, description of him as corrupt, and decision to put him on trial for drug trafficking all correspond to the two factors Republicans are most likely to cite as major reasons for the military action: removing a corrupt leader and fighting drug trafficking. 81% of Republicans, but only 31% of Democrats, strongly or somewhat approve of putting Maduro on trial; 8% of Republicans and 43% of Democrats oppose it.
Democrats and Republicans also sharply divide on the U.S. government notifying U.S. oil companies of the attack on Venezuela before it occurred. 10% of Democrats approve of notifying the companies and 69% disapprove, whereas 53% of Republicans approve and 22% disapprove.
Polarization is the norm in political surveys, and often on other topics, but it has increased for several matters of U.S. foreign policy since the fall. The questions where polarization has increased include on self-identification as interventionist or isolationist (in changes since two surveys in September and one in October), on how often the U.S. should use military force to advance its foreign-policy goals (since a December survey), and on how often preventing drug trafficking and removing corrupt leaders justify U.S. military intervention in foreign countries (the same December survey).
But opinions are less polarized about Venezuela's future governance. 49% of Democrats and 48% of Republicans say a new election should happen next in Venezuela; 21% of Democrats and 23% of Republicans say that instead, the opposition leaders
who claim they won the 2024 election should get sworn in. An identical 42% of Democrats and 42% of Republicans say Venezuelan opposition leaders would be the best choice to lead Venezuela after Maduro’s capture — though more Republicans than Democrats instead back the Trump administration or the U.S. military (16% vs. 4%). And 83% of Democrats and 74% of Republicans think the Venezuelan people should decide the country's future leadership, rather than the U.S. government.
Related:
- U.S. military action in Venezuela remains unpopular but Republican support has risen
- Surveys just after Maduro's capture show Americans are divided on U.S. military action in Venezuela
- There is scant American support for military action against Venezuela
- Only a small share of Americans consider Venezuela to be a national emergency
- The U.S. Navy deployment near Venezuela has become even less popular in the past month
- Which U.S. military interventions do Americans think have been successful?
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: This YouGov poll was conducted online on January 5 - 6, 2026 among 1,097 U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.
Image: Getty
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