Verdict with Ted Cruz
Regime Change Isn’t a Dirty Word, a Meeting with Machado & the Soldiers Who Changed a Hemisphere Week In Review
17 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome to this Verdict with Ted Cruz weekend review. Ben Ferguson with you. And here are the big stories that we talked about this week that you may have missed. First up, regime change. There's a real possibility of it in multiple countries around the world. So what role should America play? We explain that in a moment.
Also, Senator Cruz had an incredible meeting with the opposition leader of Venezuela, Machado. She talked about what the future looks like for that country, and Senator Cruz brings you into the room. And finally, an incredible day in San Antonio, as Senator Cruz met with the heroes of the Maduro arrest mission.
Chapter 2: What is the moral justification for regime change?
What do they have to say, and how are they doing? It's the Week in Review, and it starts right now.
And so you're either a neocon warmonger or you're an isolationist like Tucker and his followers. And I actually think most Americans don't fall into either category. Most Americans, I think, agree with President Donald Trump and agreed with President Ronald Reagan. Neither one of them agree. were, to use the insult of the day, neocon warmongers.
You know, in eight years, the biggest country Reagan ever invaded? Grenada. Yeah, he was not interested in invading foreign countries and sending our soldiers to die abroad. But he understood peace through strength. He rebuilt our military. He developed SDI strategic defense initiative. It was called Star Wars laser missile defense from space.
And he bankrupted the Soviet Union and won the Cold War without firing a shot. Donald Trump, likewise, has had incredible foreign policy victories, but he's not sending our soldiers to be boots on the ground and to die for years on end. And I want to take a related term that on social media gets thrown around as an epithet. which is regime change.
And you'll have people, I'm not for regime change. Well, let me be clear. Should you be for regime change when the Soviet Union fell and the Berlin Wall fell to the ground? I will submit the answer is unambiguously yes. The world is better off when a cruel, tyrannical communist regime falls. should you be for regime change today in communist China? I think unambiguously, yes.
The world would be better off if China were no longer a communist country. Should you be for regime change in Iran? I would suggest unambiguously, yes. The world would be a better place if Iran was not governed by a theocratic, murderous, religious zealot who has killed hundreds, if not thousands of Americans. Now, What is the consequence of saying you're for regime change?
If it is that you're going to send hundreds of thousands of American troops to invade the country and be on the ground for years on end and die in IEDs and be killed, then I don't support that. That is wrong. And part of the reason regime change has become an insult. is people hear it and they immediately think the Iraq war. Remember, I've opposed the Iraq war for decades.
By the way, when Tucker Carlson was an interventionist cheerleader with pom-poms cheering on the Iraq war, which he did for years with his bow tie, I've said for years the Iraq war was clearly a mistake. Why? Because it did not advance U.S. national security interests. Saddam Hussein was a cruel and oppressive dictator. He was killing terrorists who hated America. We came in.
We toppled Saddam Hussein. And the terrorists who hated America took over and began killing Americans. By the way, we did the same thing in Libya with Qaddafi. Qaddafi was cruel and oppressive, but he was killing terrorists who hate Americans.
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Chapter 3: How did Reagan's approach influence modern foreign policy?
We toppled Qaddafi and the terrorists who hate Americans took over. I believe we should be America first, which means we should put America's national security interests first. But just because... You don't want to commit boots on the ground and have hundreds or thousands of Americans die in protracted ground combat does not mean that you should support every tyrannical enemy of America.
We should want regime change in Iran. And are there ways to promote regime change other than boots on the ground? And yes, and I would say one of them is what Donald J. Trump said. I want to read his tweet again. Iran is looking at freedom, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help President Donald J. Trump.
I agree with President Trump and Tucker and everyone else who is blasting that we should have nothing to do with Iran. They're disagreeing with the president and they are wrong. We should use our voice. That's why this podcast is a message to the people of Iran. Freedom matters.
You're the ones in charge of fighting for your revolution, but know that America stands with you and a free and peaceful Iran is better for Iran and it's better for America.
Yeah, it really is. It's an important show. I hope the people in Iran, especially using Starlink, get this podcast. They're able to listen to it, that we're standing with you, we're supporting you, we're advocating for you, and we want you guys to succeed in what you're doing right now. It's going to be very interesting to see because things are changing so quickly.
There was a video that was put out, and it was also just one of those moments when you're, I love the internet, and it shows a Russian jet and a Russian support plane from their military on the tarmac on the military side at the Tehran airport. It's interesting because people were speculating that plane is sitting there ready to take out the leaders if they need to.
But And I got to say, what was there in the windshield? The little Uber logo. I'm just curious.
Yeah. It said it said Russian lift. It was Russia. Yeah.
It's Russian. Did they at least bring some like, you know, Domino's pizza or something?
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Chapter 4: What makes Iran a unique threat to the U.S.?
And there's a real difference. There are regimes across this country, across the world rather, that are cruel and oppressive, but they're not trying to kill us. The Ayatollah is, and so, look, obviously, if the regime falls, you could end up with a bad outcome. But in my view, there are very few outcomes that could be worse than the Ayatollah. At this point, they are unmitigatedly our enemies.
And I am hopeful, I think we should be a voice of encouragement towards better leadership. But I want to close with this story. So about a decade ago, I was in Jerusalem and I had the opportunity to meet Natan Sharansky. Natan Sharansky is the famed Soviet dissident. He was in the Soviet gulag.
And he told me the story about how when they were in the gulag and Reagan was president, that the prisoners would pass from cell to cell notes. And they would be notes saying, did you hear what Reagan said? Reagan called the Soviet Union an evil empire. They pass notes, evil empire, evil empire, evil empire. Reagan was asked, what is your strategy on the Cold War? He said, very simple.
We win, they lose. Before that, everyone said, oh, we're going to have detente. We're just going to do nothing. He's like, we win, they lose. That's the strategy. When he talked about Marxism-Leninism, he said Marxism-Leninism will end up on the ash heap of history
And then the most significant words any leader has uttered in modern times, he stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Germany and said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
Which, by the way, I love that part of the story. If you haven't looked at it, please go and look at it. He was told by his staff and speechwriters to not say it. And he added it back in after the State Department had taken it out.
Three times the State Department deleted that. Three times Reagan wrote it back in. And by the way, the State Department argued at the time of his speech. He said, you cannot say this. It is too aggressive. It's too bellicose. And here was their killer argument. It's too unrealistic. It will never, ever, ever happen. And Reagan laughed and said, this is the whole point of the speech.
And it was less than three years from giving that speech that the Berlin Wall was torn to the ground. And by the way. Berlin Wall did not come down because Reagan ordered in the Marines. We sent in tanks to knock down the wall. It was the power of the bully pulpit of the voice for freedom of the president.
And one of the things, Ben, you've seen that is in my office, it's actually in one of the offices of my staff. I love it. Is my first couple of years that I was in the Senate. Someone came to the office and gave me something, and it's a silk painting of myself, which I don't generally hang paintings of myself on the wall. Yeah. But the reason that I kept this one is the story behind it.
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Chapter 5: What insights did María Corina Machado share about Venezuela?
And then this is actually something Marina Carino Machado did that I think was very wise also. She invited a number of people. So the reason I was there is because she invited me. Very cool.
Wait, you're saying Durbin, you didn't make the cut on Durbin's group chat? You're not in that group chat with him?
So look, I suspect that there were some Democrats that wanted to have a meeting of just Democrats and her. And I think that would have been really unfortunate if that had happened, because I think the Democrats would have wanted to use it to attack Trump. And I think she realized that that would not further the people of Venezuela. That would not be good for anyone.
And so she reached out, and we had four Republicans who were there. So I was there. Rick Scott from Florida was there. Bernie Moreno from Ohio was there. And then John Curtis from Utah was there. So that was the four Republicans who were in the room. And then there were about seven, eight, nine Democrats that were there. So it was a larger group of Democrats.
And they were all posing for the cameras. And look, I think Rick Scott had obvious reason to be there. There's a big, big Venezuelan population in Florida. Rick Scott has a lot of support from the Venezuelan population in Florida. So it made sense for him to be there. Bernie, his family's from Columbia.
And so, you know, he you know, Bernie and I are the two two Hispanic Republicans that are in the Senate. Yeah. And since he's Colombian American, I'm Cuban American. We kind of talk smack at each other quite a bit. And Colombians and Cubans usually throw down a little bit.
Yeah.
And, you know, as for me, look, there's a significant Venezuelan population in Texas, in particular because Venezuela has the largest proven reserves of oil in the world. And Houston is obviously the energy capital of the world. And so there are a lot of Venezuelans who are in Houston. A lot of Houston oil companies have been down in Venezuela over the years. For many years...
There was a group called the Citgo Six that were Americans who were imprisoned in Venezuela. And they were Houstonians. They worked for Citgo, the oil company, and Maduro had put them in prison. And I was their leading advocate in the Senate. I went to the Senate floor repeatedly. I spoke out for them. I leaned repeatedly. on the regime. And ultimately, the Citgo 6 were released.
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Chapter 6: How has Trump's rhetoric impacted global opposition movements?
And so I've tried in my time in the Senate really to shine a light and amplify the message of dissidents
You and I, by the way, have talked about this this week when I was up in D.C. We had Bruce Pearl on. By the way, if you missed that show, go back and listen to it. The famous basketball coach who's a man standing up for Israel right now. And that was a fun podcast. It really was. Go back and grab it. But you and I have talked about this.
And by the way, I did talk with someone last night who said she loved the podcast and she cracked up the most by hearing that Bruce and I shared having both run around naked in college streaking on campus. So if you want to hear the story of that, go listen to the last podcast.
There you go. That's an easy tease right there. You and I have talked about the moment that we're living in right now could be one of the biggest historical moments, certainly of my lifetime. And that is we have three countries that without Donald Trump being president right now, if Kamala Harris is in the White House, we would not be having this conversation, I believe.
that are on the verge of quite possibly having free and fair elections within the next 12 months. And that would be Iran, that would be Venezuela, that would also be Cuba. People are standing up for themselves and standing up to their government because they're being inspired by Donald Trump and what he's also said, which is we have your back.
Well, and I want to take a moment for us just to reflect on the incredible consequential times we're living in. This is a point that I made to Machado when she was in D.C. I said, look, it is entirely possible that in the next few months, in the next six months, We could see the regimes fall in Venezuela, in Cuba, and Iran. We could see elections in Venezuela, in Cuba, and Iran.
We could see leaders elected by the people who stand for freedom and who want to stand with America and be friends with America. We could see that in Venezuela, in Cuba, and Iran. Iran, it could happen literally in the next few hours or the next few days. What is happening in Iran is so consequential. What is happening in Venezuela is so consequential. And Cuba is not far behind.
And if that happens... That will be the single most significant foreign policy development the world has seen since the Berlin Wall was torn to the ground. It will literally remake the geopolitical map and the consequences of that. Now, to be clear. There are a thousand things that can go wrong. There are a thousand things that could go wrong in Venezuela, in Cuba, in Iran. It's not guaranteed.
In fact, it is guaranteed to not be smooth and without challenges. It is 100%. It will be bumpy and there will be challenges. But all three regimes are in a panic. They are in a free fall. And the people of all three countries are energized. And if you were to pick three countries that for decades... have been explicitly, passionately anti-American.
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Chapter 7: What was the significance of the military operation against Maduro?
Talk about this, their story. What did they have to say? What was their perspective?
So we had three of our soldiers who were wounded during the raid, and they're all at the hospital in San Antonio. They're being treated. The good news is that they're all in good condition. None are in life-threatening condition now. They were in good spirits. We had the opportunity to visit with each of the three of them, with each of their wives as well. They were there with their wives.
And I will tell you that the first one we met with was a soldier who was in charge of helping plan the entire raid. He was leading one of the helicopters, and he had been shot in the leg. And he continued, even in the midst of being shot in the leg, continued. He did not step back from the fight, and he was critical in terms of his location, making sure, protecting his fellow soldiers.
You know, I got to tell you, he was... He was in great spirits. His wife was incredibly proud of him. And with all three of the soldiers, I took an opportunity to tell them. I said, look, you were part of history. You were part of history in a way, without exaggeration, that changed the entire Western Hemisphere. What you did was profoundly important. And I also told them, I took the chance—
On behalf of Texans and Americans, just to say thank you. Thank you for your bravery. Thank you for your heroism. They went into a situation where they were vastly outnumbered, and the Cuban military that were guarding Maduro opened fire. And it is amazing. It is an incredible testament to the precision and effectiveness of our military that not a single soldier on the American side was killed.
There was a very large number of Cuban forces defending Maduro who were killed in that firefight. And just taking the chance to thank them, and then the first soldier who'd been shot in the leg, I was there with Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, and Pete said, you know, if there's anything you need, let me know. And he said, well, actually, there is something you could do.
And Pete said, what? And he said, I'd really like the bullet. The bullet that went into his leg, and the hospital had it, and the medical director at the hospital, he said, well, we have the bullet, but we're not allowed to give it over unless we give a waiver. And Pete, to his credit, said the waiver is granted. You can have the bullet. And that soldier was beaming.
He was thrilled to have the bullet. And actually, the second soldier we met, he had been shot, but he'd also been cut by a piece of shrapnel. He had a cut that ran the whole length of his arm. Oh, wow. And he had the exact same request. He said, I'd really like the shrapnel. So they had the piece of metal that had cut his arm open. And again, the hospital said, we have it.
But we're not allowed to give it to him without the waiver. And again, Pete said, we're granting the waiver. You can have it. So both of those, I assume that they're going to frame it or otherwise keep it as just a memento to the injury, the Purple Heart that they earned fighting for their country, but also being a part of profoundly impacting history.
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Chapter 8: What did the wounded soldiers say about their experience?
I mean, it broke his heart that he just missed going on the raid. So he was there to be with his guys, but he did not go on the raid, and he was just cheering them on.
As always, thank you for listening to Verdict with Senator Ted Cruz. Ben Ferguson with you. Don't forget to download my podcast and you can listen to my podcast every other day you're not listening to Verdict or each day when you listen to Verdict afterwards. I'd love to have you as a listener to, again, the Ben Ferguson podcast. And we will see you back here on Monday morning.
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