Top Trump aide's son says he's glad president captured Maduro because his brother died of drug overdose
The son of Steve Witkoff said he is glad that the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, because his brother died of a drug overdose.
On Sunday, Alex Witkoff, whose father is a top aide to President Donald Trump and is the US special envoy to the Middle East, made the post on X, where it has received close to one million views in just one day.
'Yesterday my family would have been celebrating my brother Andrew’s 37th birthday. Instead, he’s gone, overtaken by a drug overdose,' the post began.
'Drug overdoses are a national catastrophe and now the #1 killer of Americans ages 18–45.
'It’s surreal that on Andrew’s birthday, President Trump successfully captured Nicolás Maduro, an illegitimate narco-terrorist dictator with an active U.S. arrest warrant since the Biden administration.
'His drug networks have helped poison an entire generation of Americans. Anyone who defends Maduro is turning their back on tens of millions of American families afflicted by this drug overdose crisis every single day.'
The post drew both support and criticism, with some users offering their condolences for Andrew Witkoff's death and agreeing that Maduro's capture was justified and a positive step in addressing the overdose crisis.
But others criticized the post and slammed Witkoff for 'exploiting' his late brother's memory.
Alex Witkoff (center), son of Steve Witkoff, recently said he is glad that the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, because his brother died of a drug overdose
Steve Witkoff is a top aide to President Donald Trump and is the US special envoy to the Middle East
The junior Witkoff described Maduro, who had his first court appearance in New York on Monday, as an 'illegitimate narco-terrorist dictator'
This was the post Alex Witkoff made. A community note is notably pinned to the tweet, explaining that Witkoff's brother died of an opioid overdose, not from cocaine
Some users also said that the post was misleading, as Witkoff's brother died from an OxyContin overdose at an addiction treatment center in Los Angeles, not from cocaine, which is the drug Maduro is accused of trafficking into the US.
Journalist Max Blumenthal, editor of independent news site The Grayzone, has the top reply to Witkoff's post, which says: 'OxyContin is produced by the Sacklers, not Venezuela.
'Twisted to exploit a tragic family loss as fodder for a potential financial gain in the Trump Inc plunder of Venezuela.'
X's community notes fact-checking feature, which was pinned to Witkoff's post, echoed Blumenthal's criticism. It said: 'Andrew Witkoff died from an OxyContin overdose. OxyContin is an opioid and was developed by Purdue Pharma.
'OxyContin is not related to Venezuela or President Maduro, who is accused of trafficking cocaine into the US. Cocaine is a stimulant, not an opioid.'
Opioids are responsible for the majority of overdose deaths in the country, and they are closely linked to domestic pharmaceutical companies rather than overseas regimes.
Purdue Pharma, which is owned by the Sackler family, reached a $7.4billion settlement that was confirmed by a judge in November 2025 over its role in fueling the opioid epidemic, notably through its aggressive marketing of OxyContin.
Some users said that Witkoff's post was misleading, as his brother died from an OxyContin overdose, not from cocaine, which is the drug Maduro is accused of trafficking into the US
This is the top reply under Witkoff's post, criticizing it as misleading
Some users, such as this one and the one below, were supportive, offering their condolences and agreeing that Maduro's capture was a positive step in addressing the overdose crisis
Although some found Witkoff's post misleading, he did not directly state that his brother died from a cocaine overdose, and he may just have been speaking about the general hazards of drug abuse which are further enabled by illegal trafficking.
Witkoff's X post came soon after Maduro was brought to New York to be prosecuted on charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine-importation conspiracy and weapons charges.
The captured Venezuelan president made his first court appearance on Monday shortly before noon, where he and his wife, Cilia Flores, pleaded not guilty.
Maduro told the judge that he still considers himself the president of Venezuela and that he was 'kidnapped' by the United States.
'I’m innocent. I am not guilty. I am a decent man, the president of my country,' he said, according to a court translation of his statements, which were made in Spanish.
Maduro, who is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, took copious notes during the proceedings. His case is being presided over by 92-year-old US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein.
The captured president's lawyers are expected to argue that his arrest was illegal and that he is immune from prosecution as a head of state. The US does not recognize him as Venezuela's legitimate leader.
