[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] Immediately after the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the White House posted a determined black and white photo of President Donald Trump on its official Twitter account along with a strong message that read, "No more games. FAFO (F**k Around and Find Out)."

The photo was taken on October 30, 2025, at the Gimhae International Airport terminal in Busan, shortly after President Trump held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Gimhae Air Base for approximately 100 minutes during his visit to South Korea for the APEC summit. The White House enlarged and reprocessed the original image, inserting the phrase "FAFO" at the bottom and using it as a warning image symbolizing the ouster of the Maduro regime.

Explosive response to the post

The White House post garnered approximately 15 million views in just two days, generating global attention. In Korean online communities, the image of Gimhae Airport as the background sparked over 484 responses, with questions like, "There must be plenty of Trump photos, so why this one?" and "Hiding a diplomatic message?" In English-speaking countries, the post garnered over 151,000 likes and 33,000 reposts. Domestic and international media outlets interpreted this as "Trump's declaration of Western Hemisphere hegemony," debating whether the choice of Gimhae Airport was a coincidence or a deliberate signal.

Details of the operation to arrest Maduro

On the morning of January 3rd, the United States deployed elite Delta Force special forces in "Operation Absolute Resolve," arresting Maduro and his wife, Celia Flores, without bloodshed and transporting them to New York. The day before the operation, Maduro met with Xi Jinping's special envoy, Qiu Xiaoqi, but U.S. intelligence agencies secured his success by preemptively gathering details, including his eating habits.

Maduro was indicted in 2020 in the Southern District of New York on four counts: conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and conspiracy to possess and use machine guns and destructive devices. He was also charged with accepting millions of dollars in bribes for his role in importing thousands of tons of cocaine over 25 years. He appeared in court on the 5th and pleaded not guilty, stating, "I am the president of my country," but the trial continues.

FAFO, the Trump administration's signature slogan

FAFO is a symbolic expression of the Trump administration. On September 30th of last year, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (Department of War) declared in a speech to about 100 generals at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, that "we will show our enemies FAFO." Hegseth declared, "This is the end of the Pentagon, the beginning of the War Department," emphasizing the abolition of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the easing of discipline, supporting Trump's "hardline diplomacy." In this context, the White House Post framed Maduro's arrest as "realizing American justice," revealing the administration's commitment to restructuring Latin America.

China strongly opposes Trump's "good relationship"

The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned Maduro's arrest as a "violation of international law" and called for his immediate release and a peaceful resolution through dialogue. This is because during Maduro's tenure, Venezuela exported most of its crude oil to China, circumventing US sanctions, making it a strategic ally in Latin America. However, President Trump dismissed the situation on the 4th, stating, "There will be no impact on our relationship with China. We maintain a good relationship," and that "we balance it through tariffs." Analysts predicted that this incident could lead to an escalation of geopolitical tensions amid the US-China trade truce.