WASHINGTON – As President Donald Trump orchestrates a military intervention in Venezuela, his ability to maintain a unified Republican coalition faces a new challenge during this critical election year.

Initially, many Republicans supported the bold U.S. mission to apprehend Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and extradite him to face charges in the U.S. However, concerns are emerging within the party, especially after Trump’s remarks about the U.S. potentially taking control of Venezuela. These statements have sparked fears that he might be veering away from his “America First” doctrine, a principle that has been central to his political ascent and set him apart from traditional Republican views.

“This mirrors the same old Washington tactics that we are fed up with, which don’t benefit the American public but rather serve major corporations, banks, and oil tycoons,” said outgoing GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a former Trump supporter, during her appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.

Apprehensions are not limited to the party’s far-right elements. Others within the GOP are also voicing their concerns.

Moderate Representative Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who faces one of the toughest reelection battles in the upcoming midterms, expressed in a statement that “the United States of America should focus on governing itself, not other nations.”

Those comments reflect the sensitive dynamics between Trump and his fellow Republicans at the outset of an election year in which their party risks losing control of Congress. While the president remains the undisputed dominant force inside the GOP, the ironclad grip Trump has long held over the party has faced unusual challenges in recent months. Blocs of Republicans have come together to pressure Trump to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Others have been vocal in encouraging Trump to take concerns about affordability more seriously.

Few issues, however, are as central to Trump’s political brand as the idea of ensuring that the U.S. does not get entangled in seemingly endless foreign conflicts at the expense of domestic priorities. During a 2016 Republican presidential debate, for instance, he called the Iraq War a “big, fat mistake.”

By Saturday, Trump said he was “not afraid of boots on the ground” if that was deemed necessary, and he framed his actions in Venezuela as steps that are grounded in prioritizing the safety and security of Americans. As he articulated an aggressive vision of U.S. dominance in the Western Hemisphere, he told reporters it was important to “surround” the U.S. with “good neighbors.”

His comments about revitalizing the oil industry in Venezuela are in line with some of the earliest critiques he made of the handling of the Iraq War. During a 2013 speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said the U.S. should “take” oil from Iraq and “pay ourselves back.”

Amid some of the pushback about the U.S. taking expansive responsibility for managing Venezuela, Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday suggested a more limited role. He said that Washington would not handle day-to-day governance of the South American country other than enforcing an existing “oil quarantine” on Venezuela.

It is not clear that any forceful, organized opposition to Trump’s Venezuela policy is emerging within the GOP. Instead, many lawmakers appear to be giving the Republican administration some room and, at most, offer some warnings.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who faces a potentially challenging reelection campaign this year, called Maduro a “narco-terrorist and international drug trafficker” who should stand trial even, as she said “Congress should have been informed about the operation earlier and needs to be involved as this situation evolves.”

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who often criticizes military interventions, did not specifically oppose Trump’s actions even as he wrote on X that “time will tell if regime change in Venezuela is successful without significant monetary or human cost.”

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has clashed with Trump and is not seeking reelection this year, said Maduro was a “thug” and that Trump has “broad constitutional authority and long historical precedent for the limited use of military force.”

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AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.