President Donald Trump’s top national security advisers briefed members of Congress about the administration’s campaign against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on Tuesday, as the president suggested he could extend U.S. military operations to Mexico and Colombia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and CIA Director John Ratcliffe held a classified briefing for Congress’ “Gang of Eight” representing intelligence committee and Senate and House of Representatives leaders from both parties after members of Congress clamored for more information.
Democrats emerged from the meeting dissatisfied. “I asked them what their strategy is, and what they were doing, and again, did not get satisfying answers at all,” Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters after the briefing.
Republicans mostly declined to comment beyond saying they were still studying the issues.
Trump said in a wide-ranging interview with Politico conducted on Monday that he could extend anti-drug military operations to Mexico and Colombia and hinted at land operations in Venezuela. He also took aim at Europe, including another call for Ukrainian elections and support for Hungary’s leader.
Trump repeatedly declined to rule out sending troops into Venezuela as part of an effort to bring down President Nicolas Maduro. Asked if he would consider using force against targets in other countries where the drug trade is highly active, including Mexico and Colombia, Trump said: “I would.”
MONROE DOCTRINE 2.0
The U.S. military has massed much of its naval strength in the southern Caribbean since early September, conducting at least 22 strikes on boats in waters around Venezuela that have killed nearly 90 people.
The campaign has come under heightened scrutiny in recent days as details emerged of a September 2 decision to launch a second strike on a suspected drug boat that killed survivors of the first attack.
Trump’s comments in the Politico interview reiterated much of his world view outlined in the sweeping national security strategy released last week that seeks to reframe the country’s global role.
That strategy, which aides called the Trump Corollary to the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine asserting U.S. dominance in the Americas, focused on the U.S. reasserting itself in the Western Hemisphere while warning Europe that it must change course or face “erasure.”
“They’re weak,” Trump told Politico, referring to Europe’s political leaders. “They want to be so politically correct.”
A spokesperson for the European Commission, asked about Trump’s comments, defended the bloc’s leaders and said the region remained committed to their union despite challenges such as Russia’s war in Ukraine and Trump’s tariff policies.
In the interview, Trump again said he thought it was time for Ukraine to hold elections as the war nears its four-year mark. Ukraine is expected to share a revised peace plan with the U.S. later on Tuesday, one day after hastily arranged talks with European leaders.
He also said he did not offer a financial lifeline to the government of ally Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who met with Trump last month at the White House.
“No, I didn’t promise him, but he certainly asked for it,” he said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Bipasha Dey and Gnaneshwar Rajan )
