I think I just figured out what Donald Trump is doing as a way to force congressional approval of a war with Venezuela to remove President Nicolás Maduro from power.
Trump is just going to keep on poking Maduro until the dictator lashes out, necessitating a return strike from our troops.
To that point, Trump announced that the United States just seized an oil tanker, with Maduro levying allegations of piracy against the president over the action.
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that a joint operation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard resulted in the seizure of a crude oil tanker via a warrant that stemmed from previously sanctioned transportation of oil from Venezuela to Iran.
Bondi posted to X, "For multiple years, the oil tanker has been sanctioned by the United States due to its involvement in an illicit oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations.”
She continued, "This seizure, completed off the coast of Venezuela, was conducted safely and securely -- and our investigation alongside the Department of Homeland Security to prevent the transport of sanctioned oil continues."
Trump also briefly mentioned the seizure to reporters, clearly proud, and when he was asked what the U.S. would do with the oil, he responded, "Well, we keep it, I guess." Perhaps he can top off our strategic reserve, since this is all free oil.
Needless to say, Venezuela was not happy about the seizure, accusing the United States of an act of piracy.
Its government released an official statement, which read: "The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly denounces and repudiates what constitutes blatant theft and an act of international piracy, publicly announced by the president of the United States, who confessed to the assault of an oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea.”
The response was published by Correo del Orinoco, a state-run news outlet, which generally posts all official Venezuelan government positions.
This is the latest “poke” Trump has given to Maduro to try to force his hand, as the president is clearly going for regime change. This has not necessarily been received very well by lawmakers in D.C.
Several members of Congress are reading this situation much like I am, believing that the seizure was a purposeful move by Trump to either force Maduro to leave his country or to lure him into initiating an attack that would start a war.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) did not pull any punches, stating, “It sounds a lot like the beginning of a war.” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) responded similarly, stating that he is “gravely concerned that [Trump] is sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela.”
On the flip side, there is Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has turned into Trump’s greatest ally in the Senate. He fully supported the move, responding, “If you’re a narcotrafficker, and you’re thinking about getting on a speedboat that is filled with a bunch of cocaine, you’re having second thoughts right now because President Trump is saving the lives of Americans. … The poison that Maduro is flooding into this country is killing Americans and President Trump is fulfilling his responsibility as commander in chief, by saying we’re going to stop this poison that’s killing our kids.” Cruz, however, was adamant about not wanting to see any type of ground attack conducted.
After all of this, I have to think that Maduro is going to consider some type of retaliatory action, but any type of military strike would be to his detriment, as there is just no way Venezuela can match up with the United States. The bigger picture is in how China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey would respond, given that they are all major allies of Venezuela. It’s not necessarily a war with Venezuela that is the concern, but rather getting into a war with its allies, one that could pose significantly more challenges, especially when you consider the reports of low U.S. stockpiles of key munitions.
