Trump signals broader use of U.S. power after Venezuela operation

President Trump, after the swift capture of Nicolás Maduro, said the United States had asserted rights to Venezuela’s oil and suggested he might apply similar measures to Colombia, called Cuba "ready to fall" and repeated that Greenland must come under American control for national security.

On Air Force One and in interviews, Mr. Trump said “We’re in charge,” invoked a revived Monroe Doctrine he sometimes calls the “Donroe doctrine,” and suggested U.S. forces assembled in the Caribbean could be used against Colombia. He accused Colombia’s president of running a country “by a sick man who likes making cocaine,” said “It sounds good to me” when asked about an operation there, and referred repeatedly to oil — roughly 20 times — as a reason to control Venezuela’s reserves while saying he expected to keep selling Venezuelan oil to China.

The administration’s recent National Security Strategy, the story notes, includes a “Trump Corollary” that asserts rights to deny non‑Hemispheric competitors access to “strategically vital assets.” It may be an empty threat or an attempt to pressure leaders: the article says it is unclear whether the Colombia comments signal a planned operation.

Mr. Trump did not discuss restoring democracy in Venezuela or name Edmundo González as president, and critics warned that democracy restoration does not appear to be a stated objective. On Greenland, Denmark’s prime minister wrote that “It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the U.S.

Key Topics

Politics, Donald Trump, Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, Colombia, Gustavo Petro