US President Donald Trump has denied making any decision on whether or not to launch an attack on Venezuela, contradicting reports that he is considering plans to target cocaine facilities and drug trafficking routes within the country.
The US president made this statement aboard Air Force One when asked about his intentions regarding Venezuela, which CNN had previously reported was a consideration due to its alleged role in cocaine trafficking. Trump has been trying to link Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to the illicit trade, despite lacking concrete evidence.
In recent weeks, the US military has attacked 15 vessels suspected of carrying narcotics, resulting in 61 deaths. However, there is no proof that these boats were indeed carrying drugs or traffickers. Pentagon officials have also expressed difficulty in measuring the success of this operation.
Trump's administration has authorized a deployment of advanced naval assets to the Caribbean region, sparking concerns among regional leaders and Venezuelan President Maduro, who claims the US intentions are not aimed at combating drug trafficking but rather exerting pressure on his government.
According to Trump, the ground phase of military operations will begin "soon" without needing formal authorization from Congress. He believes he can bypass traditional war declarations in order to target suspected traffickers. The President stated that any further actions would be notified to lawmakers ahead of time, yet still seems confident they won't face significant resistance.
This development adds another layer to the complex relationship between the US and Venezuela, which has been strained for years due to various issues including economic instability and alleged authoritarianism by Maduro's regime.
The US president made this statement aboard Air Force One when asked about his intentions regarding Venezuela, which CNN had previously reported was a consideration due to its alleged role in cocaine trafficking. Trump has been trying to link Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to the illicit trade, despite lacking concrete evidence.
In recent weeks, the US military has attacked 15 vessels suspected of carrying narcotics, resulting in 61 deaths. However, there is no proof that these boats were indeed carrying drugs or traffickers. Pentagon officials have also expressed difficulty in measuring the success of this operation.
Trump's administration has authorized a deployment of advanced naval assets to the Caribbean region, sparking concerns among regional leaders and Venezuelan President Maduro, who claims the US intentions are not aimed at combating drug trafficking but rather exerting pressure on his government.
According to Trump, the ground phase of military operations will begin "soon" without needing formal authorization from Congress. He believes he can bypass traditional war declarations in order to target suspected traffickers. The President stated that any further actions would be notified to lawmakers ahead of time, yet still seems confident they won't face significant resistance.
This development adds another layer to the complex relationship between the US and Venezuela, which has been strained for years due to various issues including economic instability and alleged authoritarianism by Maduro's regime.
I mean, Trump is always saying something crazy, but this time it's like he's trying to pull off a wild card move 
. Denying any plans on attacking Venezuela when everyone knows the US has been eyeing him up for years...it's like he thinks we all forgot about that whole "America First" thing 
. And now he's talking about bypassing Congress? That's just nuts, folks! I remember back in my day, we had to go through the motions with diplomatic channels and whatnot. This Trump guy is all about shaking things up, even if it means stirring up trouble in the Caribbean 
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. The US military's been making waves in the region with those attacks on suspect vessels, and now it seems like things are about to get even more heated 
. I just hope someone's keeping track of all this, because from where I'm sitting, it looks like a whole lot of chaos is brewing 
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They were supposed to help combat drug trafficking but now it just feels like another layer of US involvement in Venezuela. What's up with Trump trying to circumvent Congress again? Doesn't he trust them or something? 
Not good, not good at all.
. And what's with the whole "soon" thing about the ground phase of military operations? That sounds like a pretty big deal 
. I'm not sure why Trump thinks he can just bypass Congress on this one, it's not like he hasn't had enough trouble with the law before 
. Regional leaders are already getting anxious about this, and Maduro's got every right to be too 
The US military needs to focus on actual issues rather than playing hero with questionable intel. This is getting out of hand 
the more I hear about this Venezuela thing, the more I'm like "wait a minute... how much evidence does he really have?" 
Trump is really testing the waters here and it's a whole thing 
The fact that he's considering bypassing Congress on military ops is super sketchy 
It feels like the US is trying to flex its muscles and get all dramatic about it 
Meanwhile, we got real issues brewing in the Caribbean that need attention 
its like he thinks he can do whatever he wants and nobody will stop him? newsflash dude, being the president isnt about making up rules as you go along. what if he ends up killing innocent ppl or destabilizing the whole region? 
and what about congress tho? wont they be like "hold up trump whats going on here" 
. Congress needs to speak up here 
...
15 deaths already from those naval attacks but what if they were innocent ships? it's all so shady 
but seriously, what's the deal with this? Like, is he even thinking about the consequences or something? And 61 deaths from US military attacks that were supposedly aimed at narcotics? That's a lot of civilians getting caught in the crossfire. I don't know what's going on in Trump's head right now, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to me... 
. The fact that he wants to bypass Congress and go straight to military ops without formal authorization is super concerning. It feels like a slippery slope, you know? One thing can lead to another, and before you know it, we're in the middle of some major conflict 
. And what's with these naval deployments and attacks on "suspicious" vessels? We have no idea if they're actually carrying drugs or who. It sounds like a wild goose chase to me 
. The Pentagon's got their own problems measuring the success of these operations, and now they're saying we can't trust them to make decisions about war? No thanks 
And now Trump's gonna "notify" Congress ahead of time, but I'm not buying it 
. The situation with Venezuela is already super complex, so this just makes me think there's more to the story than we're being told 
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. This whole thing just reeks of imperialism to me, like he's tryin' to exert control over a country that's already strugglin' to stay afloat 
my friend who's from hawaii said she's had it before too! anyway back to venezuela... i mean have u seen those cute little dog videos of the venezuelan street dogs 
they're sooo adorable!
. it feels like he's just trying to bully maduro without actually solving the problem, and that's not exactly how diplomacy works 
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