Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told me that as recently as a couple of weeks ago Trump mused to him about the possibility of using military force in Venezuela, where the U.S. government is currently pushing for regime change using diplomatic and economic pressures.
What happened: Graham, recalling his conversation with Trump, said: “He [Trump] said, ‘What do you think about using military force?’ and I said, ‘Well, you need to go slow on that, that could be problematic.’ And he said, ‘Well, I’m surprised, you want to invade everybody.'”
– Graham laughed. “And I said, ‘I don’t want to invade everybody, I only want to use the military when our national security interests are threatened.'”
“Trump’s really hawkish” on Venezuela, the hawkish Graham added in a phone interview on Sunday afternoon, adding that Trump was even more hawkish than he was on Venezuela.
– To be clear: There are no signs that the Trump administration is planning to invade Venezuela, and my conversations with senior administration officials signal that the coming pressures to accelerate regime change are diplomatic and economic. (We expect the Trump administration will target Nicolás Maduro’s oil and offshore wealth in the coming weeks and try to divert that wealth to the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, whom Trump recognized last week as the interim president of Venezuela.)
– But that doesn’t mean we should ignore Trump’s private comments to Graham, because he’s pointedly made clear that “all options” remain on the table and this isn’t the first time Trump has mentioned military intervention in Venezuela. He’s wanted to move aggressively against the Maduro regime since his first year as president. In the summer of 2017 Trump alarmed Venezuela with talk of a “military option.” Trump’s aides at the time talked him out of the idea.
……..
- Discussion
-
SCOOP: Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told @jonathanvswan that as recently as a couple of weeks ago Trump mused to him about the possibility of using military force in Venezuela. https://t.co/7WIo5prnPc
— Axios (@axios) January 28, 2019
I want to know why the US should get involved in the first place. Venezuela is doing a good job of destroying itself. Why would the US need to intervene?
Trump’s ego must need a stroke again.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.