White House fires back at 'The View' hosts after they call Venezuela strikes ‘illegal’

WASHINGTON, DC: The White House has fired back at 'The View' cohosts after they sharply criticized President Donald Trump’s recent Venezuela operation.

The White House has accused the daytime panel of 'flip-flopping' to attack the president even when criminal drug lords are held accountable.

The response came after 'The View' panelists Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro blasted the US raid calling the operation illegal and politically motivated.

Hostin decries legality of raid, Navarro supports outcome but slams Trump’s intent (The View/YouTube)

White House slams ‘liberal pundits’ after criticism

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Entertainment Weekly that the criticism ignored the international consensus surrounding Maduro’s rule and the long-standing US effort to bring him to justice.

“Over 60 countries around the world held that Nicolás Maduro was an illegitimate ruler,” Kelly said in a statement, adding that “the Biden administration had a reward for information leading to his arrest,” referencing a reported $25 million bounty offered in January 2025.

The statement went on to credit Trump directly for authorizing the operation that led to Maduro’s capture.

“Only President Trump had the strength and courage to actually arrest Maduro for committing narcoterrorism against the United States,” Kelly said, before directly taking aim at 'The View' hosts.

“Liberal pundits will flip-flop on anything, even holding criminal drug lords accountable in order to attack President Trump, but the President will always protect our homeland and put the American people first,” the statement concluded.

Sunny Hostin called the raid ‘illegal’, Navarro questions Trump’s motives

The White House reaction followed a segment on Monday’s broadcast of 'The View', where Hostin opened the discussion by condemning Trump’s decision to authorize the raid that led to Maduro’s extradition.

Hostin described the operation as '100 percent illegal,' arguing that the president lacked congressional authorization to carry it out.

“International law doesn’t allow it unless Congress declares war, and Congress did not do that,” Hostin said on air.

“This country was founded on the balance of power. You have checks and balances, co-equal branches of power.”

She went on to say, “This president is doing whatever the heck he wants, without any checks or balances. And I have never in my lifetime seen this type of regime change, which is what we just saw, work out well for the United States. It just doesn’t work, and in my view, this is completely, 100 percent illegal.”

Navarro, a Republican and Nicaragua native, offered a more mixed assessment. 

While praising the removal of Maduro, whom she called a 'murderous, corrupt, sadistic', argued that Trump’s motives were self-serving rather than humanitarian.

“I don’t think this is at all about the Venezuelan people,” Navarro said.

“Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn about the Venezuelan people.”

She added, “I don’t think Donald Trump gives a damn about drugs. If he did, he would not have pardoned the former president of Honduras. I think this is a lot about Donald Trump’s ego.”