After Venezuela, Who’s Next? |
Welcome back to World Brief, the first edition of 2026! Today, we’re looking at threats of U.S. intervention around the world, South Korea’s budding friendship with China, and a series of cyberbullying convictions in France.
In 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump often touted his “no new wars” mantra as evidence for why he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Within days of the start of 2026, though, Trump took a hard right turn: capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, threatening military action against Colombia, warning of the fall of Cuba, suggesting U.S. intervention in Iran, cautioning the administration in Mexico, and vowing to annex Greenland.
Welcome back to World Brief, the first edition of 2026! Today, we’re looking at threats of U.S. intervention around the world, South Korea’s budding friendship with China, and a series of cyberbullying convictions in France.
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In 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump often touted his “no new wars” mantra as evidence for why he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Within days of the start of 2026, though, Trump took a hard right turn: capturing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, threatening military action against Colombia, warning of the fall of Cuba, suggesting U.S. intervention in Iran, cautioning the administration in Mexico, and vowing to annex Greenland.
Pursuing what has been coined the “Donroe Doctrine,” after the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, Trump kicked off the new year with an eye on U.S. intervention in resource-rich nations—a policy that he has prioritized in his National Security Strategy.
Here’s what you need to know about Trump’s current (and potentially future) targets:
Venezuela
Maduro appeared in a New York court on Monday for the first time since his dramatic seizure by U.S. forces early Saturday morning. He has pleaded not guilty to federal drug-trafficking charges and demanded that he be returned to Caracas, where he maintains that he is the rightful leader. (Independent vote monitors say opposition figure Edmundo González rightfully won Venezuela’s disputed presidential election in 2024.)
Trump has since said that the United States will “run the country,” with some suggesting that either Secretary of State Marco Rubio or presidential advisor Stephen Miller will oversee post-Maduro operations. It is unclear what U.S. involvement will look like, though the White House has said that it aims to