Donald Trump admitted to informing oil companies of his plan to attack Venezuela and kidnap its leader, without notifying Congress.
Speaking aboard Air Force One on Sunday, the billionaire president told reporters that he had spoken with oil companies “before and after” the attack, calling them essential to the “reconstruction of infrastructure” in the South American country after the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Trump said, “They want to intervene, they will do a great job for the Venezuelan people, and they will represent us very well.” He added, “The infrastructure is rusty, dilapidated, and largely unusable. It’s old and decrepit. You see pipes lying around; no investment has been made in it for years.”
Trump’s admission of leaking information to oil companies about a plan to capture Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, came after several Democrats asserted that a surprise attack on Venezuela would amount to an illegal declaration of war without the required congressional authorization.
The Trump administration dismissed the criticism, claiming that the plan to arrest Maduro and transfer him to New York to stand trial on “narco-terrorism” charges was a law enforcement operation that did not require congressional approval.
Questions have also been raised about the apparent motives behind this shocking operation. The White House has consistently maintained that the United States is not seeking to change the Venezuelan regime and that Maduro’s departure has nothing to do with oil, a major source of revenue for the country.
Yet, Trump has repeatedly stated that the United States will now “lead” Venezuela and exercise total control after Maduro’s arrest. He has also announced a plan to take control of Venezuela’s oil sector, promising to send American companies to revive what he has called a “dead country.”
For months, there have been fears that Trump might launch an attack against Venezuela as part of a broader strategy to oust Maduro, amid pressure exerted by, among other things, the seizure of sanctioned oil tankers off the Venezuelan coast and the blockade of other vessels.
Interviewed by CNN on Sunday, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut rejected the Trump administration’s claims that the plot to overthrow Maduro was part of a drug trafficking operation.
“Venezuela is all about making money for his friends. Wall Street, the oil industry, they can make a lot of money off of Venezuela if they run it,” Murphy said.
“Once again, you’re seeing that this president’s foreign policy, the invasion of Venezuela, the ouster of Maduro, is about making his crowd filthy rich. It has nothing to do with American national security.”