BOSTON— Massachusetts Democrats are melting down after President Donald Trump launched a decisive military operation that captured Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores—ending years of hand-wringing while a narco-state openly mocked the United States.

Within hours, the Bay State’s Democratic delegation rushed to cameras to denounce the operation as “illegal” and “unconstitutional,” despite years of documented evidence tying the Maduro regime to drug trafficking, corruption, and repression. Rather than celebrate the takedown of a dictator accused of flooding the region with narcotics, local Democrats framed Trump’s success as a political problem.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren led the outrage parade, fretting aloud about America “running Venezuela” and warning darkly of global instability—arguments critics say sound eerily similar to the same excuses Democrats used to oppose killing ISIS leaders, taking out terror cells, or enforcing the border. To Trump allies, Warren’s remarks underscored a familiar pattern: endless caution, no consequences, and zero accountability for hostile regimes.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley followed suit, branding the operation “reckless” and claiming it endangered Americans—despite no reported U.S. casualties and a targeted strike that removed a hostile leader without a prolonged ground war. Pressley also warned of “endless war,” even as Trump’s supporters point out the irony: Democrats oppose swift action, then complain when conflicts drag on for decades.

Rep. Seth Moulton went further, likening the operation to “Iraq 2.0,” a comparison Trump backers dismissed as lazy and dishonest. Unlike Iraq, they argue, Maduro wasn’t a hypothetical threat—he was a sitting dictator accused by U.S. authorities of running a criminal enterprise and destabilizing the hemisphere.

Democrats also questioned Trump’s justification that the mission targeted narcoterrorism, downplaying Venezuela’s role in regional drug trafficking. Critics say that skepticism reveals more about Democratic priorities than the facts—especially as border communities reel from fentanyl deaths and cartel violence that Democrats have struggled to confront.

As Trump moves aggressively against foreign adversaries, Massachusetts Democrats appear less concerned with results than with process—and more outraged by Trump’s decisiveness than by a dictator’s downfall.

The split is stark: Trump takes action. Democrats issue statements. And once again, voters are left to decide whether America should project strength—or keep asking permission from regimes that openly despise it.