The days since the mission to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro have been rather interesting.
Donald Trump is now dealing with a bit of a revolt among Republicans in the House and Senate, so he has decided to back off on further action in Venezuela, at least for now.
The president announced this week that a planned second wave of operations in the country has been cancelled.
There are a lot of questions about who is going to run Venezuela now that Nicolas Maduro is gone, and Trump really got people fired up by suggesting the United States was going to take the reins.
When asked about possible elections, Trump stated, "Well, we're going to run everything. We're going to run it, fix it. We'll have elections at the right time."
Then, when specifically asked about who was running the country, Trump responded, "We're dealing with the people. We're dealing with the people that just got sworn in. And don't ask me who's in charge, because I'll give you an answer, and it'll be very controversial."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since pushed back on that a little bit, explaining that the United States would simply be using its leverage to influence decisions. In terms of leadership, the vice president under the Maduro regime was recently installed by the country’s Supreme Court.
In our first report, we detailed how Trump is dealing with a resistance movement that appears to be taking shape among some Republicans in the House and Senate.
Part of that was a group of GOP senators who backed a resolution led by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) to block Trump's ability to make any further moves regarding Venezuela without congressional approval.
This was symbolic in nature, but it just shows that Republicans are now starting to stand up to Trump, and the grip he once had on the party seems to be loosening.
Kaine stated, “Instead of responding to Americans’ concerns about the affordability crisis, President Trump started a war with Venezuela that is profoundly disrespectful to U.S. troops, deeply unpopular, suspiciously secretive and likely corrupt. How is that ‘America First ’?”
Trump now appears to be backing off just a bit, whether because of pressure from Congress or confidence in Rodriguez, so he just announced that a planned second wave of operations will not be taking place after all.
Trump stated, "Venezuela is releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of 'Seeking Peace.' This is a very important and smart gesture. The U.S.A. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure.”
He continued, “Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.”
I think this was the best move, and it will allow things to calm down a bit and be assessed properly before any more decisions are made. Hopefully, Rodriguez remains true to her word, and elections are scheduled once things settle a bit more. But, at least for now, this resolves a lot of problems for Trump.
