In no particular order:

1. Needless to say, this is a(nother) illegal usurpation of congressional power about which congressional Republicans will do nothing.
2. I have no idea what the long-term consequences for Venezuela will be. That said, “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition” does not seem like good policy (or domestic politics), given previous American attempts to do so. All countries have domestic politics, and there might be an incentive for Venezuelans to not cooperate with the U.S. I could be wrong, but this might not go the way Trump expects it too.
3. While Trump might believe things like ‘we’re taking back the oil’, the economic reality is that there’s little money to be had there. Trump is stupid and easily manipulated, but this comes from Trump’s handlers, in this case, most likely Secretary of State Rubio.
4. In the medium and long-term, I don’t think this helps Trump politically. There’s no real upside to this in terms of Americans’ day-to-day lives, and lots of potential downsides. For example, while this might shove the Epstein files off the front page temporarily (until more document releases happen), it also effectively ended the Somali immigrant crapola, which was starting to pick up steam.
5. Democrats should push for articles of impeachment. Will they pass the House? Almost certainly not, but nothing else Democrats will want to achieve will pass either, so go for it.
6. Also related to impeachment: releasing Very Serious Statements about investigations and “answers” is what you do when you want an issue to go away. Impeachment theater is the way you cut through the noise. Impeachment theater is good!
7. Simultaneously (or nearly so), Democrats should introduce a resolution disapproving of Trump’s aggression and directing him to withdraw US forces.
8. That said, I doubt Democrats will do anything substantive, because they’re still following the plan of hoping the economy is bad enough in 2026 to take back the House.
9. As always, siding with Trump never works out in the long run: “I think it’d be very tough for her [María Corina Machado] to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman but she doesn’t have the respect.” Lolsob, I guess.
10. If “narco-terrorism” can justify military action in Venezuela, then it could be used to topple Mexico–and we know Trump doesn’t like Sheinbaum. The neocons are back baby!
11. Trump might use this as an excuse to deport more Venezuelans (except those that can bribe him). Certainly, Miller and Noem will use this as an excuse.
12. When this is all said and done, there need to be courts martial for senior military officers. And, no, a bullshit OLC or DOJ memo does not annul the wrongdoing.
13. Trump looked like shit during the Saturday press conference. He could not stay awake, and looks very ill.