Following the capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is blaming Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for what he described as a shift in President Donald Trump's foreign policy.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Paul said Graham played a central role in pushing Trump toward the decision to send U.S. special operations forces into Caracas to seize Maduro.
Paul said the operation runs counter to Trump's long-stated opposition to regime-change wars and nation-building abroad.
"This is Lindsey Graham," he said. "Lindsey Graham has gotten to the president."
Paul pointed to Trump's past comments opposing regime change, noting the president has repeatedly warned that such efforts often end in failure.
"I saw a clip — there's like 20 clips — of [Trump] saying he's not for regime change, and how regime change has always gone wrong," he said.
"Somehow, they've convinced him it's different if it's in our hemisphere."
Paul expressed concern about what he sees as growing influence from more hawkish Republicans, particularly Graham, on Trump's approach to Venezuela and broader foreign policy decisions.
Graham, for his part, has made no secret of his desire to see Maduro removed from power.
Last month, he voiced frustration after War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio told senators during a classified briefing that regime change in Venezuela was not under consideration at the time.
"I want to know what's going to happen next," Graham said following that briefing.
"Is it the policy to take Maduro down? It should be, if it's not.
"If he goes, what's going to happen next?" Graham asked. "I'd like a better answer as to what happens when Maduro goes."
After Maduro was captured over the weekend, Graham celebrated the development and suggested broader consequences for communist regimes in the region.
"As I have often said, it is in America's national security interest to deal with the drug caliphate in our backyard, the centerpiece of which is Venezuela. With Maduro's capture, the drug caliphate is moving toward collapse," he wrote in a post on X.
"Free Cuba," Graham added.
Newsmax reached out to Graham's office for comment.
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