President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio deny needing congressional approval to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump instead insisted that “Congress has a tendency to leak and we don’t want leakers.”
As previously shared, early Saturday morning (January 3), U.S. Forces carried out a strike on Venezuela. Officials launched military strikes across several key locations in the foreign territory. During the operation, President Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured, placed on a plane, and removed from their country.
During a press conference, President Trump claimed the United States will “run” Venezuela after capturing its president. Trump also addressed questions about needing congressional approval before the shocking capture.
Trump handed the question over to Rubio, who claimed this type of operation isn’t one that “you can call people and tell them. It’s a law enforcement function.” He said, “It’s not the kind of mission that you can pre-notify because it endangers the mission.” Trump doubled down by labeling Congress as “leakers.” He said, “Congress will leak and we did not want leakers.”
RELATED: Donald Trump Says The U.S. Will ‘Run’ Venezuela After Nicolás Maduro ‘Capture’
Congressional Leaders Speak As President Donald Trump Denies Needing Their Approval Before Capturing Venezuelan President
Following Donald Trump’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, several members of Congress spoke out.
Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) took to her X account and wrote:
“This is when we see who is serious about their oath & who isn’t. This President continues to exceed his powers because Republicans care more about a pat on the head than they do being patriots. OUR TROOPS, OUR LAND, OUR CITIZENS, & OUR STANDING IN THE WORLD are all being put at risk!
If republicans are so supportive of his acts, then he could have come to Congress for approval… but he’s been allowed to unconstitutionally grab immigrants, then US citizens off the streets because too many people continue to pretend like this is nothing more than a game! I’m disgusted at how feckless & weak elected ‘leaders,’ are being in this moment! I’ll put it this way, if the justification for grabbing a president comes from having indictments….something tells me this precedent won’t age well!”
Maxine Waters (D-CA) wrote:
“What the hell is going on? Trump has supposedly abducted President Maduro and his wife and brought them to the United States for trial, supposedly for drug trafficking and bringing drugs to the United States. It was just a few weeks ago when Trump pardoned one of the biggest drug traffickers in the world, Juan Orlando Hernández, the former President of Honduras, who had been convicted by the Biden Administration and was serving a sentence of 45 years in prison. What is this? Is this about regime change? Is this about oil? Or is this a power play to continue to send a message around the world that Trump is all-powerful and he is headed towards dictatorship in our country?”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) wrote, “It’s not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month. It’s about oil and regime change. And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from Epstein + skyrocketing healthcare costs.”
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wrote:
“Venezuela is ruled by an illegitimate regime, but the Administration has not made the case that an urgent threat to America’s national security existed to justify the use of U.S. military force. President Trump has made no secret of his intentions to effectively abolish the Congress, and that pattern continues today with his flagrant disregard for the Article One war powers of Congress which is essential to our constitutional system of checks and balances.
If the President grounds his actions on the basis of drug trafficking charges, it is entirely hypocritical in light of his recent pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández who was responsible for bringing more than 400 tons of cocaine in the United States in order to ‘shove the drugs right up the noses of the gringos.’
The Administration says Maduro will be tried for drug trafficking in a U.S. court — but Hernández was convicted of the same crime by an American jury and Trump pardoned him. Congress must be fully and immediately briefed on the strikes and regime change in Venezuela, the objectives and extent of this operation, and how the Administration intends to prevent further regional fallout.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) wrote:
“I’ve served on the Homeland Security Committee for the past three years. I’m 100% for strong safe secure borders and stopping narco terrorists and cartels from trafficking deadly drugs and human trafficking into America.
Fentanyl is responsible for over 70% of U.S. drug overdose deaths and fentanyl comes from Mexican cartels made with chemical precursors from China and trafficked across the
U.S. Mexico border. Mexican cartels are primarily and overwhelmingly responsible for killing Americans with deadly drugs.If U.S. military action and regime change in Venezuela was really about saving American lives from deadly drugs then why hasn’t the Trump admin taken action against Mexican cartels? And if prosecuting narco terrorists is a high priority then why did President Trump pardon the former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez who was convicted and sentenced for 45 years for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine into America? Ironically cocaine is the same drug that Venezuela primarily traffics into the U.S. The next obvious observation is that by removing Maduro this is a clear move for control over Venezuelan oil supplies that will ensure stability for the next obvious regime change war in Iran.
And of course why is it ok for America to militarily invade, bomb, and arrest a foreign leader but Russia is evil for invading Ukraine and China is bad for aggression against Taiwan? Is it only ok if we do it? (I’m not endorsing Russia or China). Regime change, funding foreign wars, and American’s tax dollars being consistently funneled to foreign causes, foreigners both home and abroad, and foreign governments while Americans are consistently facing increasing cost of living, housing, healthcare, and learn about scams and fraud of their tax dollars is what has most Americans enraged.
Especially the younger generations. Boomers and half of Gen X will cheer on neocon wars and talking points, but the other half of Gen X and majority on down see through it and hate it. Americans disgust with our own government’s never ending military aggression and support of foreign wars is justified because we are forced to pay for it and both parties, Republicans and Democrats, always keep the Washington military machine funded and going.
This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong. As the baby boomers slip away both in votes and power, the electoral future will be decided for candidates that focus on American economic populism and promising prosperity for Americans only. As of right now, neither party is offering the solution.”
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