Trump’s Venezuela move prompts Portland and Eugene protests, draws backlash from Northwest Democrats

U.S. Senate and House Democrats from Oregon and Southwest Washington moved swiftly to condemn President Donald Trump’s Saturday morning announcement that the United States carried out a military strike in Venezuela and captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

They called the action unconstitutional, reckless and a dangerous escalation with global consequences.

Civilians also shared objections through chants, signs, marches and protests in some parts of the region.

In downtown Portland, more than 200 protesters gathered Saturday afternoon to share shared similar concerns. They gathered at the corner of West Burnside and Southwest 10th Avenue.

Many waved Venezuelan flags and chanted anti-war slogans. Others held up signs that read “Hands Off Venezuela” and “No War.” The crowd marched down Burnside Street toward the waterfront, followed by a handful of counter-protestors, social media influencers that have been present at many Portland protests in recent months.

In downtown Eugene, more than 100 people gathered at the Federal Building, chanting “no blood for oil” as a stream of passing cars honked in support.

Many top Republicans across the country praised Trump’s actions Saturday. But Rep. Cliff Bentz, the lone Republican congressperson from Oregon, had not posted about the action on social media by mid-Saturday afternoon.

OPB has reached out to him for comment.

Related: U.S. hit Venezuela with ‘large-scale strike,’ captured Nicolás Maduro, Trump says

Southwest Washington U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a centrist Democrat who won office in a seat previously held by a Republican, issued a statement late Saturday afternoon reflecting her concerns about the president’s actions.

“As today’s events have shown, governments bent around the authority of a single man are weak,” she said on social media platform X. “Our Constitution is clear that no President can act unilaterally to drag our nation into a long-term foreign entanglement. Congress needs to act like a coequal branch of government. China and Russia are watching, and hoping Congress keeps up its reflexively partisan, short sighted behavior.”

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said the strike reflected a familiar and troubling pattern in American foreign policy. In a series of posts on social media, Merkley argued the operation violated the U.S. Constitution, which grants Congress the sole authority to declare war.

“Once again, U.S. foreign policy is all about oil, regime change, and might makes right,” Merkley wrote. He warned that the move would “reverberate in unexpected and significant ways,” undermining U.S. credibility when criticizing potential aggression by China toward Taiwan or Russia toward Ukraine.

Merkley also said that forcibly removing Maduro could leave the United States responsible for managing Venezuela’s future, with serious risks for American lives and taxpayer dollars. “It is way past time for Congress to reassert its proper constitutional powers,” he said.

Trump said during a press briefing Saturday morning that the U.S. is “going to run” Venezuela, for now.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., condemned Trump’s military action in Venezuela, arguing it undermined U.S. interests by bypassing Congress and normalizing interventionism.

“President Trump’s attack on Venezuela, without congressional authorization or imminent threat to the United States, is exactly the same global interventionism that Americans soundly rejected after decades of failed wars and disastrous meddling in other nations’ affairs,” he said in a written statement.

Related: Trump says ‘we are going to run the country now’ after removing Venezuela’s president

U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle, who represents Oregon’s 4th Congressional District, echoed those concerns, calling the strike “illegal” and an example of extreme executive overreach.

“The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war and this is one more example of extreme overreach by this Administration, one that will have dire consequences,” Hoyle wrote on Bluesky. She said Americans did not need “another foreign war for oil” and warned of the potential cost in lives and public funds.

Hoyle told KLCC Saturday that her colleagues will introduce a War Powers Resolution once Congress is back in session Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas, representing Oregon’s 6th Congressional District, went further, characterizing the operation as an outright act of war. “Without any approval or oversight from Congress, President Trump has overthrown the Venezuelan government,” Salinas wrote on X. “Every member of Congress should be outraged that Trump is sidestepping our authority and dragging us into another conflict.”

U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, representing Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District, called on her follow lawmakers to respond. “Congress must reassert its constitutional authorities, and vote on a War Powers Resolution to stop this,” she wrote on Bluesky, saying the president’s actions undermine U.S. legitimacy on the world stage. “I refuse to stand by and allow us to be pulled into another endless war.”

U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, from Oregon’s 5th district, echoed many of her Democratic colleagues with her statement on Bluesky: “The Constitution grants Congress the sole power to declare war and this is one more example of extreme overreach by this Administration, one that will have dire consequences. We do not need to waste taxpayers dollars and American lives in another foreign war for oil. This is simply wrong.”

Related: U.S. strikes on Venezuela spark alarm across Latin America and beyond

From Washington state, Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell issued a lengthy statement criticizing both the legality of the strike and the administration’s stated rationale. She said Americans had not asked for a war, an occupation or “boots on the ground,” and accused the president of acting without a clear plan for what comes next.

“What the President has done is unconstitutional, reckless, and will have far-reaching effects well beyond last night’s strikes,” Cantwell said. She questioned the administration’s justification for using military force, particularly Trump’s suggestion that the United States would run Venezuela following Maduro’s removal.

The White House has not yet released detailed information about the scope of the operation, the legal authority under which it was conducted, or what role, if any, Congress will play going forward.

OPB’s Winston Szeto, Courtney Sherwood and Joni Auden Land, and KLCC’s Nathan Wilk contributed to this story.