- - “The View ”stars slam Donald Trump's Venezuela raid as '100 percent illegal,' say he 'doesn't give a damn' about citizens

Joey NolfiJanuary 5, 2026 at 11:22 PM

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Joe Raedle/Getty; ABC

Donald Trump; Sunny Hostin on 'The View'Key Points -

Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro slammed Donald Trump's tactics in raiding Venezuela.

Hostin claimed the raid that led to Nicolás Maduro's capture "violates international law."

"I don't think this is at all about the Venezuelan people," Navarro said.

The View cohosts wasted no time in taking shots at Donald Trump at the top of their first episode of 2026.

Days after Trump first boasted about an operation in which United States forces invaded and captured and jailed controversial Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, The View star Sunny Hostin alleged that the initiative was illegal.

"It's not legal because it violates international law, right? I've never seen it before," Hostin said, going on to reference reports that Venezuelan citizens and members of its military were killed in the 30-minute assault over the weekend, which she called a "kidnapping and capture" after Maduro was transported to New York City to be arraigned.

Whoopi Goldberg, Sara Haines, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin, and Alyssa Farah Griffin on 'The View'

"International law doesn't allow it unless Congress declares war, and Congress did not do that. This country was founded on the balance of power. You have checks and balances, co-equal branches of power," Hostin continued, later adding that "this president is doing whatever the heck he wants, without any checks or balances. And I have never in my lifetime seen this type of regime change, which is what we just saw, work out well for the United States. It just doesn't work, and in my view, this is completely, 100 percent illegal."

Republican panelist Ana Navarro, who previously praised the removal of Maduro in social media posts over the weekend, jumped in to say she doesn't "think this is at all about the Venezuelan people," because, in her estimation, "Donald Trump doesn't give a damn about the Venezuelan people" and only operated in his own best interests, she suggested.

"I don't think Donald Trump gives a damn about drugs. If he did, he would not have pardoned the former president of Honduras, who was serving 45 years in federal prison for having brought 400 tons of cocaine into the United States," Navarro said, referencing recent assertions that deadly American strikes on Venezuelan boats were done in the name of protecting the country from incoming drugs. "I think this is a lot about Donald Trump's ego."

Still, Navarro praised Maduro's capture as marking a "happy day" for Venezuelans living under his rule.

"It brought me to tears, it brought me great joy," Navarro, who was born in Nicaragua, said, before Hostin questioned, "But are you okay with the way that it was done?"

"I think both things can be true," Navarro replied. "I think you can criticize and ask questions and have concerns about the way it was done and what this means in the future, and I think you can still celebrate that this murderous, corrupt, sadistic son of a bitch is out of Venezuela."

Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin on 'The View'

In an indictment made public by the Department of Justice, documents alleged that "for over 25 years, leaders of Venezuela have abused their positions of public trust and corrupted once-legitimate institutions to import tons of cocaine into the United States," and specifically named Maduro in further allegations that he was at the "forefront of that corruption and has partnered with his co-conspirators to use his illegally obtained authority and the institutions he corroded to transport thousands of tons of cocaine to the United States."

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In the aftermath of the raid, Trump said that the U.S. would now "run the country" until a "proper and judicious transition" of power can occur in Venezuela, where many have speculated that Trump had a primary interest in controlling the country's oil industry.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to the White House for comment.

The View airs weekdays on ABC.

on Entertainment Weekly

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