I can tell you I didn’t have this on my 2026 bingo card. The Washington Post publishing a rational, well-thought-out editorial that didn’t just bash Trump at every opportunity? Well, it happened.
While conservatives may have nothing but disdain for the liberal outlet, it is nonetheless an extremely influential mouthpiece for the Democrat Swamp, and it can be relied on to toe the progressive line at almost every opportunity in the modern age.
You would expect then that their editorial board would issue a fiery missive condemning Donald Trump’s Operation Absolute Resolve, which plucked former Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro from his safe house in the wee hours of January 3 and spirited him to New York City to face federal criminal charges. But to the chagrin of wailing Democrats everywhere, the WaPo came out with a ringing endorsement in an editorial board essay Saturday:
President Donald Trump’s decision to capture him on Saturday was one of the boldest moves a president has made in years, and the operation was an unquestionable tactical success.
What, what?!
Fox News media critic Joe Concha was quick to point out that the editorial exposes how "pious" Democrats decrying Trump’s abuse of power and alleged breaking of international law aren’t so pious after all:
The Washington Post Editorial Board fully backs Trump’s action against Maduro. This will absolutely get the Democrats attention who seemed to think they’re right to loudly oppose this in the most pious terms possible… And again they’re not. https://t.co/BOXJflFLGB
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) January 3, 2026
MORE TEETH GNASHING: Kamala Condemns Trump for ‘Unlawful and Unwise’ Take Down of Maduro, Gets Hit by Inconvenient Fact
Europeans Mumble 'Restraint' on Maduro Capture – Statements Read Like ChatGPT Diplomacy
The WaPo continued, and lo and behold, they actually made sense:
This is a major victory for American interests. Just hours before, supportive Chinese officials held a chummy meeting with Maduro, who had also been propped up by Russia, Cuba and Iran. No doubt millions of Venezuelans will remember who backed their oppressor and who effected his removal. But the end of Maduro will be a failure if it doesn’t also corrode the influence of American adversaries in this hemisphere.
The Washington Post editorial board comes out in favor of the Venezuela attack/operation to capture Maduro pic.twitter.com/GsOggIv5R8
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) January 3, 2026
I feel like I could have written this next sentence:
Maduro’s removal sends an important message to tin-pot dictators in Latin America and the world: Trump follows through. President Joe Biden offered sanctions relief to Venezuela, and Maduro responded to that show of weakness by stealing an election.
They conclude with a simple but obvious observation:
His [Maduro’s] downfall is good news.
What does this mean? Is it a sudden sea-change, indicating that the mainstream media is changing its spots and is actually going to become a fair arbiter in this country? Doubtful. But it is a sign that at least some are seeing that acting as gaslighting, DNC mouthpieces has damaged their credibility — see the Great Joe Biden Mental Decline Coverup — and are at least pretending to cover all sides of the issues fairly. CBS News, under its new chief, Bari Weiss, has promised to clean up their notoriously biased act; we’ll just have to see how that turns out.
As much as some of us would like to see the Usual Suspects like the WaPo, the NY Times, CNN, and MS NOW simply go away, they’re not going to, and whether we like it or not, they still retain enormous influence (even if not on you personally). If they become even slightly less knee-jerk partisan, it’s a good thing for the country.
That being said, I still don’t trust any of that lot any further than I can throw them, and they will still try to thwart the duly elected president at any turn. If I want to know what’s really going on in the world, I’ll turn to RedState and other Townhall properties and get the news that the lamestream media buries.
For one day, however, it was refreshing to see one of those outlets not just parrot Chuck Schumer’s talking points.
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