John Thune defends lack of Venezuela briefing, says Congress struggles with keeping secrets
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Senate Majority Leader John Thune commented on the ongoing conversation about whether Donald Trump and his administration should have gotten Congressional approval before the military launched a strike against Venezuela and captured Nicolas Maduro.
Thune stated on Monday, January 5, that he didn’t believe that the Trump administration needed Congressional approval and understood why it couldn’t notify Congress beforehand, and admitted that the organization was not the best at keeping secrets.
John Thune claims Venezuela strike was ‘America First’
A popular criticism of several Democrats and even Republicans against the Venezuela strike was that it could not be termed as 'America First', part of a popular slogan adopted by Donald Trump himself.
Thune said that he disagreed with the criticism, adding that 'America First' meant protecting American interests and that it was evident that there had been an influx of dangerous illegal substances coming into America from the South.
“I think the administration checked all the boxes, and don’t think there’s anything that they did that is not aligned with what’s been done in the past or in a similar circumstance,” he explained.
Commenting on the legality of the strike and the capture of Nicolas Maduro, Thune said that there was “plenty of legal authority” to execute the plan.
Praising the Trump administration further, he said that they got Maduro to America, who was going to be tried in the US.
John Thune chimes in on Trump wanting America to 'run' Venezuela
The Senate majority leader was also asked about Donald Trump saying that the US would “run” Venezuela now that Maduro had been captured and removed from power.
Thune said that he was going to try to get more information on the matter, adding that he hoped to find out the extent of America’s possible involvement in Venezuelan politics.
Soon after capturing Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, Donald Trump held a press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, where he shared details of the attack and its potential aftermath.
He said that America would be in Venezuela to ensure a proper, judicious, and safe transition of power. He also added that the American oil companies would try to fix the broken infrastructure in the foreign country and start to make money for America.
