FOREIGN DIGNITARIES/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/VENEZUELA: “Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro has clung to power for years through political manipulation, harsh security measures and economic corruption — classic strongman tactics all-too common among autocratic leaders Donald Trump has praised worldwide. Yet the U.S. president has relentlessly trashed Maduro from the moment he took office. Why? For an American leader often criticized for ‘cozying up to dictators,’ Trump has spent his presidency personally urging other countries to pressure Maduro, riling up 2018 midterm rally crowds with insults about Venezuela and even suggesting the U.S. could resort to military action against the country. This week, Trump declared the U.S. would no longer recognize the Maduro government, proclaiming opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the rightful ‘interim president’ of Venezuela.”
–Nahal Toosi, “In Venezuela, Trump finds one dictator he doesn’t like,” Politico, January 24, 2019 3:04 pm