Politics
One in three Americans back US strike on Venezuela: Reuters poll
- Only 11% of Democrats, 23% of independents support US strike.
- Around 43% of Republicans support US policy of dominance.
- Nearly 59% of Republicans support US control of Venezuelan oil.
Washington: One in three Americans approves of the US military strike on Venezuela that toppled the country’s president, and 72% worry the US will become too involved in the South American country, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Monday.
The two-day poll showed 65% of Republicans back the military operation ordered by Republican President Donald Trump, compared to 11% of Democrats and 23% of independents.
US forces swooped into Caracas before dawn on Saturday in a deadly raid that yielded the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who the US military turned over to federal authorities for prosecution on charges involving alleged drug trafficking.
The raid, and Trump’s subsequent statement that the US would now “run” Venezuela, marked a sharp departure for a president who long criticised other US leaders for foreign entanglements.
The move came after his administration signalled that it intended to focus primarily on the domestic economy, a significant concern for voters heading into this year’s midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the last two years of Trump’s term.
Republicans back ‘dominating’ policy
The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted on Sunday and Monday, showed significant support among Republicans for a foreign policy that includes exerting influence over nearby countries.
Some 43% of Republicans said they agreed with the statement: “The United States should have a policy of dominating affairs in the Western Hemisphere,” compared with 19% who disagreed. The rest said they were unsure or did not answer the question.
Trump on Saturday said the US would “run” Venezuela for an unspecified time and could send in ground troops. Vowing to overhaul Venezuela’s oil industry, he said on Sunday the US needs “total access” to the country’s large oil fields.
Some 60% of Republicans in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they supported sending US troops to be stationed in Venezuela, compared to 30% of Americans overall. Fifty-nine percent of Republicans said they supported the US taking control of oil fields in Venezuela.
It remains unclear how Trump means to carry out his promise to run Venezuela. On Sunday, he appeared to indicate that Washington would control Venezuela by intimidating its leaders rather than actually governing the country.
“If they don’t behave, we will do a second strike,” Trump said. Whatever course he takes, the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 65% of Republicans support the US governing Venezuela.
Republicans are more divided in their worries over how US involvement could evolve. Some 54% of Republicans said they worried the US will become too involved in Venezuela.
The same percentage expressed concern about the financial costs, compared to 45% who said they were unconcerned. Sixty-four percent of Republicans were worried US involvement would risk the lives of military personnel in Venezuela.
The poll, which surveyed 1,248 US adults nationwide, showed Trump’s approval rating at 42%, the highest rating since October and up from 39% in a December poll. The poll, which was conducted online, had a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.
CAMBRIDGE: Two Pakistani Muslims have been elected to top city positions in Cambridge, a city in the US state, Massachusetts.
Sumbul Siddiqui, a lawyer originally from Karachi, has been elected mayor by the Cambridge City Council for the 2026-27 term, marking her third tenure in the role. She is the first Muslim and Asian woman to serve as mayor of Cambridge.
Burhan Azim, an MIT-trained engineer from Burewala, has been elected deputy mayor of Cambridge, becoming the city’s youngest councillor in history.
Siddiqui first won a city council seat in 2017 and served as mayor twice between 2020 and 2024, making her a prominent figure in local politics.
- Donald Trump says Modi “not that happy” due to US tariffs on India
- Tariffs could rise if India doesn’t curb Russian oil imports: US president.
- US imposed 50% tariffs on India, including 25% linked to Russian oil.
United States President Donald Trump has recounted a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that Modi had sought permission to meet him.
Delivering remarks at the House GOP Member Retreat, Trump was speaking on the demand for the US-made Apache helicopters and said India has been waiting for five years for the Apache helicopters.
Trump said that India ordered 68 Apaches and “Prime Minister Modi came to see me, ‘Sir, may I see you please’. Yes.”
The US president said that Modi was “not that happy with me” because of the tariffs imposed by Washington on Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil.
“I have a very good relationship with him. He’s not that happy with me because you know they’re paying a lot of tariffs now because they’re not doing the oil, but they are, they’ve now reduced it very substantially, as you know, from Russia,” Trump said.
Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on India, including 25% for its purchases of Russian oil.
On Sunday, the US president said that Washington could raise tariffs on India if New Delhi doesn’t meet its demand to curb purchases of Russian oil.
“Modi […] knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy,” Trump added.
“They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly,” Trump said in response to a question on India’s Russian oil purchases.
The US doubled import tariffs on Indian goods to 50% last year as punishment for its heavy buying of Russian oil. Despite the hefty tariffs, India’s exports to the US leapt in November.
- STC leader Zubaidi skips flight to Riyadh, flees unknown.
- Presidential council strips Zubaidi of membership over treason.
- STC and Yemen government feud deepens amid armed clashes.
The leader of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, failed to board a plane set to take him to Riyadh and fled instead to an unknown destination, the Saudi-backed coalition in the country said on Wednesday.
The remarks came amid efforts to end fighting that erupted last month between the STC and Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
Zubaidi was set to travel to Saudi Arabia days after Yemen’s government said it had asked Riyadh to host a forum on the southern issue.
In a statement, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said a flight carrying a large number of senior leaders of the separatist group departed after a delay of more than three hours without Zubaidi, and with no information on his whereabouts.
During the delay, “information became available indicating that he had moved large forces,” Maliki added, citing “calls for mobilisation and the movement and arming of factions with light and medium weapons”.
The Houthis seized the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in 2014 and Gulf countries intervened the following year in support of the internationally recognised government, splitting Yemen into rival zones of control.
The coalition also said it carried out limited pre-emptive airstrikes in Yemen’s southern province of al-Dhalea after monitoring the movements of armed forces that had left their camps.
Domestic sources and sources within the STC reported more than 15 strikes in the province, the birthplace of Zubaidi.
Following the developments, the presidential council stripped Zubaidi of his membership and referred him to the public prosecutor on charges including high treason, state news agency SABA said.
The decision, issued by council chairman Rashad al-Alimi, accused Zubaidi of inciting armed rebellion, attacking constitutional authorities and committing abuses against civilians in southern Yemen.
For years, the STC has been part of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
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