Caracas — A series of explosions across the Venezuelan capital on Tuesday marked the beginning of what commentators described as a full-scale United States military operation ordered directly by former President Donald J. Trump, raising immediate questions about the legality of the action and plunging Washington into a renewed debate over presidential authority in foreign interventions.
Footage circulating widely online showed the La Carlota air base in Caracas struck by American air power, with repeated blasts sending plumes of smoke across the city. Additional videos, attributed to open-source intelligence monitors, captured U.S. Army helicopters moving over the metropolitan skyline and several secondary explosions erupting near strategic locations. Air-raid sirens could be heard throughout the capital.
According to the narration accompanying the footage, the operation was launched without authorization from Congress. Analysts quickly seized on that claim, arguing that any unilateral military campaign — particularly one targeting a sovereign state — would deepen the long-running confrontation between executive power and statutory limits governing the use of force abroad.
Residents in several districts of Caracas reported losing electricity amid the strikes, as low-altitude aircraft flew overhead and emergency alerts echoed across the city. Additional clips showed fires near coastal areas such as La Guaira, as well as strikes allegedly directed at military facilities beyond the capital. The scope and scale of the operation remained unclear, and no official U.S. government statement was referenced in the footage.
The narrator denounced the action as an “unlawful invasion,” underscoring the political turbulence surrounding the event. In the United States, the question of whether a president can initiate offensive operations without congressional approval has long been a constitutional fault line. The footage’s insistence on unauthorized military engagement appeared designed to highlight that long-standing institutional tension.
The escalation also carries broader geopolitical implications. While the transcript provided no mention of international reactions, the scenes emerging from Caracas — explosions, military aircraft, and widespread alarm among civilians — reflect the kind of destabilizing scenario capable of rippling across regional alliances and economic relationships.
The Midas Touch Network, which disseminated the footage, pledged continuous coverage as events unfold and emphasized the extraordinary nature of what it characterized as a sudden U.S. offensive. The network’s hosts urged viewers to monitor updates as additional information becomes available, noting that the situation was “transpiring right now” and subject to rapid developments.
As the night continued, the central question remained unresolved: whether a major act of military force had been undertaken absent the institutional checks required under U.S. law. For observers in both countries, the episode underscored a deepening confrontation not only between Washington and Caracas but also within America’s own system of governance — a system now forced to confront, once again, the contested boundaries of presidential power in wartime.
