Here's what the smartest people in foreign policy, business, and economics are saying about Trump's raid on Venezuela

• Donald Trump on Saturday said that the US had captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
• The raid elicited strong but divided reactions from business figures and foreign policy analysts.
• Some say Maduro's removal offers economic opportunity; others say it could escalate global conflict.

President Donald Trump on Saturday announced that the US had conducted a raid on Venezuela, resulting in the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, and big names in business and foreign policy have been reacting as the aftermath unfolds.

Here's what they've been saying:

Charles Myers

Myers, chairman of political risk consulting firm Signum Global Advisors, told Business Insider that foreign investment in oil, tourism, and construction will be the "centerpiece" of Venezuela's financial recovery going forward, adding that he expects the country's economy will grow "faster over the next two years than people anticipate because of the extent or scale of foreign investment."

Myers, also a former head of investment advisory firm Evercore, is planning a trip of 15-20 investors to visit Venezuela in March to identify investment opportunities. Signum Global Advisors has hosted similar trips for investor groups in Syria and Ukraine.

Ian Bremmer

Bremmer, founder of the political risk research and consulting firm, Eurasia Group, in a post on LinkedIn, wrote that the "US presumption is next Venezuelan leaders will now do what the Americans want because they've just seen the 'or else.'"

Accompanying the post was a photo of a drawing of a horse. The hindquarters of the horse were drawn in intricate detail, and labeled "SOF operation to capture Maduro," referencing the special operations forces mission that was executed early Saturday. The horse's head was depicted as a rudimentary children's drawing, captioned "plans for future of Venezuela."

"I wouldn't exactly call it a plan," Bremmer added.

In a separate post, he wrote: "The law of the jungle is dangerous. What applies to your enemies one day can apply to you the next. Make no mistake where the world is heading here."

Bill Ackman

The billionaire hedge fund manager wrote in a post on X that "The removal of Maduro will lower oil prices, which is good for America and very bad for Russia. A weaker Russian economy will increase the probability that the war in Ukraine ends sooner and on more favorable terms for Ukraine. And Putin will be sleeping in his safe room from this point going forward."

Henry Gao

Gao is a senior fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation and a law professor at Singapore Management University. In a series of posts on X, he said the raid on Caracas ushered in "the brave new world of international law."

"Maduro's capture has triggered the biggest revival of international law since Grotius — and overnight turned everyone on X into an international law wonk, eager to compare Venezuela to Taiwan," he wrote.

"But China has never treated the Taiwan issue as a matter of international law," he continued. "It has always been framed as an internal affair, with Taiwan regarded as a renegade province. The reason China has not acted is not because it lacks legal justification, but because it lacks the capability. Thus, US ops in Venezuela provide China with no additional legal justification."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren

The Democratic senator from Massachusetts is a former Harvard Law professor who holds deep expertise in bankruptcy and consumer finance. In a post on X, she wrote that Trump's action to seize Maduro, "no matter how terrible a dictator he is — is unconstitutional and threatens to drag the US into further conflicts in the region."

"What does it mean that the US will 'run' Venezuela, and what will Trump do next around the world?" Warren wrote. "The American people voted for lower costs, not for Trump's dangerous military adventurism overseas that won't make the American people safer."

Elon Musk

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO spent most of Saturday posting praise for the Trump administration and the military operations in Venezuela, posting that it was "heartwarming to see so many Venezuelans celebrating their country freed from a brutal tyrant."

In another post, Musk retweeted a White House image of Maduro aboard the USS Iwo Jima after being apprehended, with the caption "Congratulations, President Trump! This is a win for the world and a clear message to evil dictators everywhere."

Musk and Trump have had a tumultuous relationship over the years, alternating between appearing to be close allies and trading sharp criticisms in the media.

Richard Branson

Writing on X, the British billionaire and founder of the Virgin Group said Maduro's "corrupt and inept reign" had "caused endless suffering for the Venezuelan people and brought this beautiful country to the verge of economic and social collapse."

"He will not be missed," he wrote.

Branson added that a "just and fair transition means handing power to Venezuelans, and especially to those with a clear mandate to lead."

Vishnu Varathan

Washington's effective control of Venezuela would hand the US a major energy advantage, according to Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho's head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan.

The first advantage is practical and industrial: Venezuela's heavy crude is well suited to US refining capacity. The second advantage is strategic: Access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves would give the US a decisive energy edge in the AI race, particularly relative to China.

Finally, Varathan highlighted a shipping advantage. Proximity gives the US a logistical edge to Venezuelan oil supply, while the loss of access leaves China's remaining oil imports increasingly vulnerable to major maritime chokepoints.

"China's energy security is compromised at the margin whilst the US gains significant energy dominance advantage," Varathan wrote.

Jonathan Panikoff

Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council and a former deputy national intelligence officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, pushed back on the idea that Trump's raid was primarily about oil.

In an X post on Saturday, he said that while Venezuela holds an estimated 17% to 18% of global oil reserves, it accounts for just 1% to 1.5% of global production, calling oil a "secondary benefit" rather than the main motivation.

Panikoff said the move reflects Trump's long-held view that the US should assert dominance in the Western Hemisphere and push out the influence of China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba.

"America First requires American dominance in the Western Hemisphere," he wrote, adding that the operation looked more like a revival of the Monroe Doctrine than a traditional war-on-drugs effort.

Richard Haass

Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, said Maduro's removal may be widely welcomed, but that the operation was not strategically wise.

Writing in his "Home & Away" newsletter, Haass called the raid a "military operation of choice, not of necessity," saying that Maduro "hardly posed an imminent threat to the United States."

He said that removing a leader is far easier than replacing a regime, invoking former Secretary of State Colin Powell's "Pottery Barn rule" — the idea that if you break a country, you own the consequences.

"We broke it, so now we own it," Haass wrote.

Haass also said that the operation could set a dangerous precedent, potentially emboldening Russia and China to justify interventions in Ukraine and Taiwan under similar logic.