Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro was only in the United States for a few hours, on Saturday, when senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson decided she was going to spin for him on NBC Nightly News. According to Jackson and a university “lecturer,” the nature of Maduro’s arrest was going to harm the Trump administration’s legal case against him.
As would be expected, the arrest of Maduro made up the entirety of their newscast. At one point, Jackson seemed to hint that the dictator might get off on a technicality. “His capture and removal now potentially to become a central point of any trial against him,” she said.
Stanford Law School lecturer Allen Weiner whipped out his stinky hot take claiming there was no precedent for the United States to go into another country and arrest it’s leader on drug charges:
WEINER: The bigger question is, are we allowed to basically invade other countries in order to capture people who have been indicted under U.S. law? And I think the answer to that is quite clearly no.
NBC speculates that Maduro's capture could hurt the Trump administration's legal case against him.
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 4, 2026
Despite admitting there was a precedent with the arrest of Noriega, NBC brought on Stanford University lecturer Allen Weiner who claimed the U.S. can't go into another country to… pic.twitter.com/QFGTxYmy7k
But that was a lie.
In fact, NBC News admitted there was a precedent earlier in the show.
Anchor Tom Llamas reported that there were a number of parallels between Operation: Absolute Resolve to capture Maduro and 1989’s Operation: Just Cause to go into Panama and capture dictator Manuel Noriega:
LLAMAS: All of it echoes the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. President George H.W. Bush sent the military to capture dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted for drug trafficking. He was later convicted in the U.S.
That operation, like this one, carried out with no congressional authorization. Today, the administration defending that move.
NBC Nightly News notes that the raid to nab Maduro echoes the raid to get dictator Manuel Noriega.
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 4, 2026
They also note the world saw Maduro as a "illegitimate president who stole an election" and a human rights abuser. pic.twitter.com/yS9ZXz6qa3
Interestingly, January 3 was 37 years to the day that Noriega was taken into U.S. custody.
Elsewhere in the newscast, chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander leaned heavily into Democratic Party talking points that the operation was supposedly an “illegal war” despite it not being one (click “expand”):
ALEXANDER: Democrats sharply criticizing it.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): This is an illegal war. [Transition] There is zero legal rationale for waging war within or against Venezuela without a vote of Congress.
[Cuts back to live]
LLAMAS: And, Peter, let's pick it up right there. More Democrats tonight are pushing back on the president's actions?
ALEXANDER: Tom, that’s right. The top two Democrats in Congress, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, say that they want an immediate briefing for leading lawmakers, and then the rest of Congress to be briefed.
Where was the liberal outrage over an “illegal war” when President Obama order troops to enter Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden?
NBC did have a bright spot in their reporting. They highlighted Venezuelans who were celebrating Maduro’s ouster and let them explain why in their own words:
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We are celebrating freedom and liberty! Thanks to President Trump, we were able to gain our freedom back!
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: My wife hasn't been able to go home since, since she was a kid. My kids have never gone to Venezuela, so this is huge.
NBC also highlights Venezuelans in the U.S. who were celebrating Maduro's capture and some were looking forward to returning to Venezuela.
— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) January 4, 2026
"We are celebrating freedom and liberty! Thanks to President Trump, we were able to gain our freedom back!" one woman told NBC. pic.twitter.com/kOZARLgmnR
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
January 3, 2026
6:37:03 p.m. Eastern(…)
TOM LLAMAS: All of it echoes the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989. President George H.W. Bush sent the military to capture dictator Manuel Noriega, who had been indicted for drug trafficking. He was later convicted in the U.S.
That operation, like this one, carried out with no congressional authorization. Today, the administration defending that move.
STATE SECY. MARCO RUBIO: This was an arrest of two indicted fugitives of American justice. [Transition] It's just not the kind of mission that you can prenotify, because it endangers the mission.
LLAMAS: The U.S. and many other countries across the globe viewed Maduro as an illegitimate president who stole an election. His government accused by the U.N. of crimes against humanity. I pressed him in an interview seven years ago.
The U.N. and human rights groups estimate hundreds of people have died because of your administration. They think hundreds of people have died also sent you came into power. Why are people who protest you end up either dead or in jail?
“No humans rights organizations have made me responsible for any doubts. You're lying, Tom,” he said.
(…)
6:38:24 p.m. Eastern
LLAMAS: While in the U.S., Venezuelans told us they're thrilled.
Why are people here so excited?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We are celebrating freedom and liberty! Thanks to President Trump, we were able to gain our freedom back!
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: My wife hasn't been able to go home since, since she was a kid. My kids have never gone to Venezuela, so this is huge.
(…)
6:41:20 p.m. Eastern
PETER ALEXANDER: Still, tonight, the mission ousting maduro is sparking divided opinions. Republicans praising it.
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): If you're a bad guy anywhere in the world, you're waking up this morning and you're realizing that we have a military and a president who is strong and resolute in defense of our interests.
ALEXANDER: Democrats sharply criticizing it.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): This is an illegal war. [Transition] There is zero legal rationale for waging war within or against Venezuela without a vote of Congress.
[Cuts back to live]
LLAMAS: And, Peter, let's pick it up right there. More Democrats tonight are pushing back on the president's actions?
ALEXANDER: Tom, that’s right. The top two Democrats in Congress, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, say that they want an immediate briefing for leading lawmakers, and then the rest of Congress to be briefed. President Trump said congress was not briefed ahead of time, ahead of the operation, because lawmakers have, in his words, “a tendency to leak.”
(…)
6:43:55 p.m. Eastern
HALLIE JACKSON: His capture and removal now potentially to become a central point of any trial against him.
ALLEN WEINER: The bigger question is, are we allowed to basically invade other countries in order to capture people who have been indicted under U.S. law? And I think the answer to that is quite clearly no.
(…)
