MARYLAND — Sen. Ed Markey scolded Donald Trump and cried “illegal war” after Trump said the U.S. moved against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro — an actual dictator accused of running a drug-trafficking state.

Markey accused Trump of behaving like a dictator himself, a line that raised eyebrows given Maduro’s own record: jailed opponents, crushed protests, gutted courts, rigged elections, and presided over a historic economic collapse that sent millions of Venezuelans fleeing their country.

The Massachusetts Democrat argued the operation violated the War Powers Resolution and said Trump bypassed Congress. He warned of “endless war” and authoritarian overreach — even as Maduro has ruled Venezuela through force, fear, and loyalist courts for more than a decade.

Trump allies weren’t impressed. They pointed out that Maduro has been under U.S. federal indictment since 2020 on charges including narco-terrorism and conspiring to flood the United States with cocaine. To them, the target wasn’t a legitimate head of state but a cartel-linked strongman accused of destroying his own country.

Trump said Maduro was captured and removed from Venezuela, though independent confirmation remains limited as details continue to emerge and foreign governments react.

The clash reopened a familiar Washington hypocrisy. In 2011, President Barack Obama ordered U.S. airstrikes in Libya without congressional approval, insisting it wasn’t technically a war. Democrats raised similar legal concerns back then — and then largely moved on.

This time, the outrage came fast. Markey warned about dictatorship while condemning action against one of the hemisphere’s most notorious autocrats.

For Trump critics, the focus is process and permissions. For others, it’s simpler: a cocaine-linked ruler accused of terrorizing his people was finally confronted — and Washington’s rulebook crowd is furious about how it happened.