Trump's War On Venezuela Has Nothing To Do With Oil

And Tariffs Aren't A Tax On American Consumers

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said his country apprehended CIA backed mercenaries attempting some sort of false flag operation intended to justify America going in. According to the Miami Herald, Maduro accused Trinidad and Tobago of being part of it.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump told reporters on Friday he doesn’t need Congressional authority to invade Venezuela. He says, “I already have it,” adding, “We’re just gonna kill people who are bringing drugs into America.”

He said, “We’re gonna kill them. They’re gonna be dead.” Why? Because they’re drug dealers and this war in Venezuela, it’s all about the drugs. Nothing to do with Venezuela having the world’s largest known oil reserves—bigger than Saudi Arabia’s, 303 billion proven oil reserves to be exact. But it has nothing to do with that. It’s about stopping the flow of drugs into our country.

In 2007, under the leadership of Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela nationalized the oil industry. And just like when Iran tried that in the 1950s, the United States said, “Well, it’s your country, your oil, whatever you want to do.” I think that’s what we said to Iran when they tried to nationalize.

Right? I better double check.

Exxon claims the Venezuelan government seized $1 billion worth of its assets and has been fighting Maduro in court to get their money back. But that has nothing to do with the American military. Exxon has billions. They can fight their own battles. I mean, when has Exxon ever had to rely on the United States military to protect their oil investments?

No. This—if we go to war in Venezuela—this is about cocaine and fentanyl.

Our friends from ConocoPhillips say Venezuela owes them close to $10 billion. Chevron says Venezuela owes them hundreds of millions. Then there are the mining interest and smaller oil companies all claiming Venezuela owes them money after they nationalized their natural resources.

But why would Trump topple a Venezuelan regime over oil?

No, this is all about stopping the flow of cocaine and fentanyl into the United States and of course spreading freedom and democracy.

How do I know? Because Trump says so.