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Original article: Memorándum secreto revela que Trump usó declaraciones de Machado para justificar ataque contra Venezuela y secuestro de Maduro

A memo from the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) of the U.S. Department of Justice, dated December 23, 2025, revealed that lobbying by María Corina Machado for a military intervention was crucial for the Trump administration to justify military aggression against Venezuela.

An internal memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed that the Donald Trump administration used support from the far-right, led by María Corina Machado, as a legal argument to justify military actions against Venezuela.

The aggression carried out in the early hours of January 3 culminated in the kidnapping of the constitutional president of the Caribbean nation and his wife, Cilia Flores.

According to the U.S. newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the document states that in December of last year, the Office of Legal Counsel deemed that authorization from Congress or the United Nations Security Council was unnecessary for the Republican mogul to order bombings in Venezuela.

«The legal opinion from the Office of Legal Counsel, dated December 23, 2025, also claimed that neither U.S. nor international law prevented Trump from ordering the January 3 military operation, citing numerous instances of presidents who authorized missions without the approval of Congress or UN Security Council resolutions,» the newspaper reported.

WSJ noted that although the revealed document contained significant redactions, sources familiar with the full version confirmed that beneath the blacked-out lines on page 6 lies a bold premise: the far-right lobbying led by Machado could be interpreted as a formal request for military force to displace the legitimate Venezuelan government.

One of the footnotes of the original text directly cites the extremist’s words, claiming that U.S. pressure escalation was the «only path» to the «liberation of Venezuela,» a stance she maintained during the airstrikes by Washington against boats in the Caribbean Sea, which were unsubstantiatedly accused of transporting drugs from Venezuelan territory to the U.S.

«This section appears redacted in the last paragraph on page 6 of the 22-page memo, according to one person who read an uncensored version. One of the uncensored footnotes quotes Machado’s comments, stating that intensifying U.S. pressure was the ‘only way’ to liberate Venezuela,» the newspaper highlighted.

Trump’s Praise for Delcy Rodríguez and Doubts About María Corina Machado

Simultaneously, the contradiction between the memorandum and the U.S. president’s statements following the bombing is emphasized; the American special operations forces’ strikes against the city of Caracas and areas in La Guaira, Aragua, and Miranda left over a hundred dead among civilians and military personnel, along with dozens of injuries.

The Department of Justice based its justification for the aggression on the unverified claim that Edmundo González had won the presidential elections on July 28, 2024, which the far-right has never substantiated and has been used to undermine Maduro’s legitimacy; according to the National Council, he received 6.4 million votes, equivalent to 52%.

After the kidnapping and relocation of the president and first lady to U.S. territory, and due to the forced absence of the president, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) designated the executive vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as acting president of Venezuela.

She was subsequently sworn in by the National Assembly and announced the formation of a «high-level commission» to manage the political and legal aspects of Maduro and Flores’ release.

Rodríguez’s appointment has been endorsed by the National Defense Council and the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), whose high command pledged loyalty to the new acting president.

While Trump publicly praised Delcy Rodríguez, calling her performance as interim leader “very good,” he dismissed Machado’s leadership capabilities, stating she “lacks the necessary support and respect,” despite the opposition extremist offering to give him her controversial Nobel Prize, which even prompted an unusual clarification from the Nobel Committee, stating that the award cannot be transferred under any circumstances.

The WSJ emphasized, “The Department of Justice memo is shocking, as it is partially based on Machado’s legitimacy as legal justification, even though the Trump Administration has supported Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, and continues to work with her as the interim leader of the country.”

The memo also warns of the consequences of a power vacuum, predicting that «Maduro’s exit, whether voluntary or not,» would lead to chaos in Venezuela and that «there is ‘no clear favorite’ to succeed him.”

According to the newspaper, prior to the military operation against Venezuela, an assessment from U.S. intelligence determined that the main members of Maduro’s administration, including Delcy Rodríguez, would be in the best position to lead a temporary government.

La entrada Secret Memo Discloses Trump Administration’s Use of Machado’s Statements to Justify Military Action Against Venezuela and Maduro’s Kidnapping se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.