Imperialism Trump-style
Donald Trump is a felon, a convicted criminal who, as president, pardons and releases back into the wild other criminals. A criminal who twice swore an oath before the world to uphold an American constitution in which he never believed and mocks with his every action.
Like this helluva distraction from what’s in the Epstein files (The New York Times):
President Trump said on Saturday that the United States had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, and was flying him out of Venezuela, in what would be a stunning culmination to a monthslong campaign by Mr. Trump’s administration to oust the authoritarian leader.
It is too early to assess casualties on the ground, although the BBC has identified targets:
So far, we have confirmed three locations.
- Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base aka La Carlota – footage filmed at a distance shows two plumes of smoke and an explosion close to this military airfield in Caracas
- Port La Guaira – Caracas’ main conduit to the Caribbean Sea, located in Miranda state. Footage filmed nearby shows several plumes of smoke rising into the air, and at least one fire burning
- Higuerote Airport – also located in Miranda state, just east of Caracas. Footage filmed from two angles shows fire and repeated flashes on the ground, a possible indication of secondary explosions
Trump administration officials apparently will not separate families when it suits them. Per one report, the earlier indictment did not include Maduro’s wife:
Reactions
Sam Stein of The Bulwark reminds readers that in her Vanity Fair interview, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said that a land attack against Venezuela would require congressional approval. Trump did not ask for one.
“Based” Sen. Mike Lee (R) of Utah questioned the legality of this action at 3:22 a.m. ET in a pro forma tweet:
I look forward to learning what, if anything, might constitutionally justify this action in the absence of a declaration of war or authorization for the use of military force.
By 5:16 a.m. Lee had fallen in line:
Just got off the phone with @SecRubio
He informed me that Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by U.S. personnel to stand trial on criminal charges in the United States, and that the kinetic action we saw tonight was deployed to protect and defend those executing the arrest warrant
This action likely falls within the president’s inherent authority under Article II of the Constitution to protect U.S. personnel from an actual or imminent attack
Thank you, @SecRubio, for keeping me apprised
SecState Rubio means to keep other Republicans in line as well, reposting his own tweet from July:
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D) of New Mexico tweets:
The White House is confirming U.S. military operations in Venezuela tonight. Let us be clear: these strikes are illegal. The President does not have the authority to declare war or undertake large-scale military operations without Congress. Congress must act to rein him in. Immediately.
Sen. Andy Kim (D) of New Jersey reacts:
Secretaries Rubio and Hegseth looked every Senator in the eye a few weeks ago and said this wasn’t about regime change. I didn’t trust them then and we see now that they blatantly lied to Congress. Trump rejected our Constitutionally required approval process for armed conflict because the Administration knows the American people overwhelmingly reject risks pulling our nation into another war.
This strike doesn’t represent strength. It’s not sound foreign policy. It puts Americans at risk in Venezuela and the region, and it sends a horrible and disturbing signal to other powerful leaders across the globe that targeting a head of state is an acceptable policy for the U.S. government. This will further damage our reputation – already hurt by Trump’s policies around the world – and only isolate us in a time when we need our friends and allies more than ever.
Nicholas Kristof of the Times:
Several contradictory things are simultaneously true:
1. Maduro was an oppressive, unpopular and illegitimate ruler, disastrous for his country and the region.
2. Using the US to remove him may have been equally illegitimate.
3. Venezuela would be better off with a new government under the opposition’s Edmundo Gonzalez (who probably won the presidential election but is now exiled).
4. It’s not clear that Maduro will be replaced by Gonzalez. Maduro’s VP is still apparently in power, as are other regime figures and the Cubans who back them.
5. As we’ve seen in Iraq and Libya, it can be easier to topple a leader than to establish a new government; sometimes you get a worse leader, or Somalia-style chaos.
Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko:
If Nicolás Maduro is convicted and sentenced by the U.S. government for running drug trafficking networks, would Trump then pardon him the same way he just pardoned the former Honduran president who was also convicted and sentenced in the United States?
I think the bigger question is this: why did Trump protect and pardon Juan Orlando Hernández, a convicted drug trafficker, while turning Maduro into a political trophy? And the answer probably has a lot less to do with justice and a lot more to do with who was useful to Donald Trump at the time.
Marcy Wheeler at emptywheel:
This kidnapping of Maduro is not about drug trafficking, though the indictment against him is real.
It’s about getting a piece of the action.
Rick Wilson of the Lincoln Project posts, “MAGA will conflate being critical of unconstitutional kidnappings with being Pro-Maduro. Watch. China just got a huge green light.”
Imperialist Russian President Vladimir Putin, invader of Ukraine, be like:
Meanwhile, back at the Epstein files: Pam Bondi Faces Fresh Fallout Over Withheld Epstein ‘Rape Island’ Docs