Trump draws sharp contrast between Venezuela strike and Iraq war: ‘ We’re keeping the oil’
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump spoke to ‘Morning Joe’ host Joe Scarborough on Monday, January 5, about the strike in Venezuela and how it was different from the invasion of Iraq by former President George Bush.
Scarborough told ‘MS Now’ about the conversation and said that Trump spent most of the time praising the US military’s flawless execution of the strike and believed it would send a message of strength to America's enemies.
However, when pressed about the Venezuela-Iraq comparisons, Trump noted that America was going to “keep the oil” unlike during the Bush time.
Joe Scarborough reveals what Trump said about Venezuelan strike
Scarborough, opened up about a recent telephonic conversation he had with President Trump. Scarborough explained he called Trump after the latter spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One, and hinted at America’s next moves.
Scarborough hoped to get more information out of Trump and revealed the two spoke for about 20 minutes once the president was back in the White House. He stated that Trump was excited and happy about the execution of the US military strike on Venezuela, which took place on Saturday, January 3.
He said that the president spoke about the courage shown by those who raided Nicolas Maduro’s house and how quickly they executed the plan, despite the presence of Cuban troops who stood guard for the Venezuelan dictator.
“The president concluded his summary of the attack by noting the message that this will surely send about America’s strength to Putin, Xi, and Iran,” Scarborough said.
Trump says America should have 'kept the oil'
Joe Scarborough asked Trump during the conversation about how the aftermath of the Venezuelan strike would differ from the Iraq war under George Bush’s term.
“I said, 'Mr President, when you say "we’re going to run everything" that obviously causes deep concerns because of the disaster in Iraq,” Scarborough recounted his question.
He said that Trump responded to the same by noting that the difference between what happened then and now was that “Bush didn’t keep the oil.”
“We’re going to keep the oil,” he added.
Trump continued that he had said the same thing in 2016, and it caused a lot of controversy. He doubled down on the claim and said that America was going to rebuild Venezuela’s broken-down oil factories and keep the oil.
“Saying the United States is entering a new era of geopolitical engagement seems to be an understatement,” Scarborough further recalled Trump’s phone conversation with him.
