Newsmax host on Trump's threats against Venezuela: “If it was about drugs, he'd be in Mexico right now, right?”
Rob Schmitt: “I still just don't buy it all that this has really much to do with drugs. I just don't.”
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From the December 1, 2025, edition of Newsmax's Rob Schmitt Tonight
ROB SCHMITT (HOST): It feels like the Journal is trying to push Trump into regime change and say, you can't go this far and stop, because if you do, it's going to look quite foolish. Is that your estimation?
ANDRES MARTINEZ-FERNANDEZ (GUEST): Well, that certainly seems to be the message. I think that there -- when we look at what the actions have been to this moment, whether it's confronting the narco-terrorists that are crossing the Caribbean or on the Pacific side as well, the clear focus from this administration, President Trump, has been on securing our hemisphere and confronting the various threats, which do certainly include the Maduro regime. And I think that's why we've seen such a significant focus there. But also, we've seen significant action well before that on the border, confronting the Mexican cartels and human traffickers there, as well as, as I mentioned, on the Pacific side, for some of these narco-trafficking boats. So I don't think that the options are just confront or shrink away on Venezuela.
SCHMITT: I still just don't buy it all that this has really much to do with drugs. I just don't. I think he's -- there's another issue here. It's something about Maduro. It's something about people. It's something about communism and Rubio. It's something in that vein. Because if it was about drugs, he'd be in Mexico right now, right?
MARTINEZ-FERNANDEZ: Well, I think what the administration is likely seeing is in the case of Mexico, certainly we have a lot of challenges there. The difference between Mexico and Venezuela is that we have a potential partner in Mexico that we can work with to confront these threats. That's not the case in Venezuela, just as it's not the case in these international waters where we're striking at narco-terrorist boats. So I think we're filling in a vacuum where we are essentially the only actors that can --
SCHMITT: Right.
MARTINEZ-FERNANDEZ: And hopefully sending a message to these other governments, including Mexico.
SCHMITT: Yeah. The video we were just playing was was from just earlier today, just a couple of hours ago of Maduro dancing. He's been doing a lot of dancing, which it just really is insulting to anybody that understands the plight of the people in that country. He's just such a piece of trash. He's a communist. He's a terrible person. He deserves to die. He deserves to lose power in that country. He deserves a lot of terrible things to happen.