Wednesday briefing: What Europe’s silence over Venezuela says about its fear of Trump

In today’s newsletter: Leaders’ refusal to condemn the US’s intervention in Caracas shows a desperation to keep the White House on side – but a red line might not be far awayGood morning. The dramatic seizure of Nicolás Maduro from Caracas by US forces, to face trial in New York, has sent diplomatic shock waves around the world. For European leaders, it has exposed an uncomfortable dilemma: how to welcome the removal of an authoritarian ruler without endorsing an action that many legal experts say tramples over international law.Politicians in opposition, of course, are freer to speak their minds. In the UK, the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, said that “where the legal certainty is not yet clear, morally I do think it was the right thing to do”, while Liberal Democrat Ed Davey demanded that Keir Starmer condemn what he unequivocally described as an “illegal action in Venezuela”.Greenland | Donald Trump and his advisers are looking into “a range of options” in an effort to acquire...