Justice Department memo said Trump could send troops into Venezuela unilaterally

WASHINGTON – A Justice Department memo made public on Jan 13 concluded that US President Donald Trump had constitutional authority to send military forces into Venezuela to help capture
its president, Nicolas Maduro
, without congressional authorisation.

“It is unlikely that even the full loss of the strike force would amount to the type of sustained casualties that would amount to a constitutional war” that lawmakers must approve, wrote the head of the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Mr T. Elliot Gaiser.

The 22-page memo was dated Dec 23, 2025 – about 11 days before the operation – and offers a detailed look into the administration’s legal justification for the military incursion into Venezuelan territory and what Mr Gaiser called “Maduro’s abduction”.

At least 80 people were killed in the effort to capture Maduro, including Venezuelan military personnel and civilians and Maduro’s Cuban bodyguards. Several Americans were injured, but none fatally.

The operation raised a host of legal issues about international law and presidential power.

Legal scholars say it appears to have violated international law. Under the United Nations Charter, a treaty ratified by the US Senate, a nation cannot use force inside another country without its consent, a self-defence rationale or permission from the UN Security Council.

Mr Gaiser discussed international law, including quoting the charter, but stopped short of pronouncing whether the operation would violate it because, he said, it did not matter.

He cited past opinions by executive branch lawyers, who claimed that as a matter of domestic law, the president could override or violate the charter even though it is a Senate-ratified treaty.

The Justice Department and White House press offices did not respond to requests for comment.

The memo heavily blacked out operational details, but enough glimpses remained to show that Mr Gaiser understood he was being asked to sign off on a risky proposal. It said the planners expected “significant resistance”.

But even as he flagged the possibility that the operation could escalate into war, he said the White House had told him there was no contingency plan to engage in any substantial and sustained operation or occupation of Venezuela, and that the envisioned operation would be limited to a level short of what would require going to Congress.

Mr Gaiser also wrote that it would be reasonable for Mr Trump to determine that capturing Maduro would serve national interests, reciting his 2020 indictment on drug trafficking charges. NYTIMES