A new CBS News/YouGov poll released Sunday shows that while most Americans remain wary of full-scale military action against socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela, they strongly support President Donald Trump’s aggressive campaign to stop drug-running vessels in the Caribbean.
According to the survey, 70% of American adults oppose deploying U.S. military forces against Venezuela, while just 30% support the idea. This comes as President Trump has ordered the largest U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean in decades, including deploying the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, more than a dozen warships, and roughly 15,000 troops as part of Operation Southern Spear, the administration’s expansive anti-narcotics mission.
Yet while Americans may resist the idea of a ground invasion, they overwhelmingly back Trump’s targeted strikes on drug-smuggling boats. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they support military force to take out vessels suspected of trafficking narcotics into the United States. A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll from September found even stronger support, with 71% backing strikes on Venezuelan drug boats.
The Trump administration has ramped up its pressure campaign on Maduro, whom the U.S. and several allies view as an illegitimate socialist dictator supported by the Cartel de los Soles, a narco-terrorist organization Washington designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization earlier this month. The U.S. government says Maduro himself leads the cartel, which allegedly funnels drugs into the United States. Maduro denies everything.
21 known U.S. strikes have been carried out so far against suspected narcotics vessels, resulting in more than 80 deaths.
Even so, three-quarters of Americans surveyed said the administration must provide clearer evidence that the targets being struck are indeed drug-running boats. And despite Trump’s refusal to “rule out anything,” including ground troops, nearly two-thirds of Republicans in the poll say they want the administration to lay out its objectives more clearly.
Still, GOP lawmakers overwhelmingly support Trump’s strategy of hitting drug targets hard while avoiding major entanglements.
“The administration is taking decisive action to prevent these narcoterrorists from trafficking drugs into the United States,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY). “I support what they are doing.”
Some Republicans—such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a vocal opponent of foreign intervention—have criticized the administration’s designation of Cartel de los Soles as an FTO, arguing it unnecessarily escalates tensions. But other Senate Republicans insist there is no plan for a wider conflict.
“This whole notion of going to war with Venezuela, that’s not a thing,” Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) told DCNF. “President Trump’s not a war president. We’re going to clean up drug trafficking in this hemisphere.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) agreed, saying he remains skeptical of regime-change operations but believes the administration is focused on narcotics enforcement, not military action inside Venezuela.
The CBS News/YouGov survey included 2,489 adults, conducted Nov. 19–21, with a margin of error of ±2.4 points.
Bottom line: Americans don’t want a new war—but they strongly support Trump’s mission to strike narco-terrorist threats at sea and continue pressuring Maduro’s socialist regime.
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