Latest / Bloomberg Law / Instant Reaction: Trump Says US to ‘Run Venezuela’ in Interim After Maduro

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Instant Reaction: Trump Says US to ‘Run Venezuela’ in Interim After Maduro · Bloomberg Law

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  Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
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  Speaker 2: This is a breaking news update from Bloomberg, instant.
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  Speaker 3: Reaction and analysis from our three thousand journalists and analysts
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  Speaker 3: around the world, live from mar A Lago on Bloomberg's
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  Speaker 3: TV and radio answering a series of questions alongside the
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  Speaker 3: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
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  Speaker 3: of Staff, Dan Cain. We learned a lot together over
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  Speaker 3: the past half hour or so, and I want to
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  Speaker 3: just unpack some of what we learned. If you're just
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  Speaker 3: joining us, thank you for being here with a special
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  Speaker 3: edition of Balance of Power on Bloomberg's TV and Radio,
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  Speaker 3: streaming live on YouTube with breaking news on this Saturday,
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  Speaker 3: the third of January. Mission Absolute Resolve, the name of
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  Speaker 3: the operation that took place last evening in Venezuela. Dan
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  Speaker 3: Cain describing months of work by Intel to find Nicholas Maduro,
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  Speaker 3: who is now on his way to New York to
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  Speaker 3: face charges. Months of work, he described, to understand where
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  Speaker 3: he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were
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  Speaker 3: his pets. The key, he said, was choosing the right
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  Speaker 3: day to minimize civilian harm. He described one hundred and
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  Speaker 3: fifty military aircraft involved, and indeed one of the helicopters
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  Speaker 3: that was involved in this mission came under fire but
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  Speaker 3: remained fliable. He said, all of our aircraft came home.
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  Speaker 3: President Trump, referring to the transition here and a remarkable
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  Speaker 3: headline that crossed the terminal a short time ago, quote,
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  Speaker 3: we are going to run it, essentially, referring to the
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  Speaker 3: country of Venezuela until such time as proper transition can
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  Speaker 3: take place. He said as well, we are not afraid
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  Speaker 3: of boots on the ground if we have to, and
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  Speaker 3: we're going to make sure that this is proper. We're
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  Speaker 3: there now and says for a period of time, it'll
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  Speaker 3: be the people that are standing right behind me who
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  Speaker 3: will be running the country, referring to Secretary of State
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  Speaker 3: Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense, and others. We saw the
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  Speaker 3: leaders of the CIA and FBI in the room as well,
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  Speaker 3: at mar A Lago at my side today in Washington,
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  Speaker 3: Christina at Ruffini, who has spent many years covering the
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  Speaker 3: State Department in foreign policy. This is something we've never
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  Speaker 3: quite seen, certainly from an America first president.
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  Speaker 2: As he calls himself, I mean.
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  Speaker 1: No, and one of the questions was how is this
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  Speaker 1: America first? And the President responded, America needs safe neighbors
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  Speaker 1: and also we need energy, and that's our energy. And
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  Speaker 1: one of the more remarkable moments was the one you
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  Speaker 1: were just referencing where he said the US will be
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  Speaker 1: running Venezuela until we can make sure that they're doing properly.
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  Speaker 1: The other moment was when he was asked about Marie Richatda,
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  Speaker 1: the novel laureate, and said he doesn't think she's up
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  Speaker 1: to the job. He doesn't think it's going to be her.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't think she doesn't support of the people.
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  Speaker 3: That's really remarkable because there were questions about whether she
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  Speaker 3: was in fact talking with him about next steps here.
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  Speaker 3: I think it'd be very tough for her to be
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  Speaker 3: the leader, he said. Quote she's a very nice woman,
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  Speaker 3: but she doesn't have the respect to have the job,
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  Speaker 3: having won the Nobel Peace Prize and referred to as
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  Speaker 3: an opposition leader for a reason. Here, we want to
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  Speaker 3: bring in a voice from Capitol Hill, and it's an
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  Speaker 3: important one in Congressman Brad Schneider, the Democrat from Illinois,
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  Speaker 3: is chair of the new Democrat Coalition. As we just
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  Speaker 3: spent quite a period of time listening to the Republican administration. Congressman,
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  Speaker 3: we'd like to hear from your side of the aisle
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  Speaker 3: on this. Secretary Rubio says he did call members of
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  Speaker 3: Congress immediately after these strikes took place.
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  Speaker 2: Did you get a call?
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  Speaker 3: Did any of your Democratic colleagues receive a briefing this morning?
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  Speaker 2: I didn't.
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  Speaker 4: I don't know of any of my colleges who have
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  Speaker 4: gone briefing. I've seen statements from folks like Jim Himes,
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  Speaker 4: who is the ranking member on Intelligence, Mark Warner, and
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  Speaker 4: the Senate who've all said they had not heard anything.
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  Speaker 4: And Joe, this is a critical moment for our country.
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  Speaker 4: The president, well, when I go back, Christian Maduro, Maduro
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  Speaker 4: is a bad actor who deserves to face justice. He's
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  Speaker 4: stolen election in twenty twenty four and stawed himself as
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  Speaker 4: president this time last year. He's been indicted by New
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  Speaker 4: York or US Court in New York, And so I'm
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  Speaker 4: not going to defend Maduro or mourn for his demise.
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  Speaker 4: But the fact of the matter is that the president
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  Speaker 4: needs to follow the Constitution, and it is only the
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  Speaker 4: United States Congress who has the authority to declare war
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  Speaker 4: has the authority to authorize military force. The president can
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  Speaker 4: take action if there is an imminent threat.
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  Speaker 2: The President needs.
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  Speaker 4: To show Congress and the American people what was that threat,
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  Speaker 4: what is the legal justification? And critically, especially as you said,
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  Speaker 4: is he's now saying the US is going to run Venezuela.
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  Speaker 4: How is the United States going to guarantee or ensure
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  Speaker 4: that Venezuela doesn't become a failed state and a threat
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  Speaker 4: to its neighbors in the United States as a whole.
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  Speaker 3: Well, you're on intel and foreign affairs, Congressman. We heard
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  Speaker 3: from John Thune and Mike Johnson earlier today that there
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  Speaker 3: would be briefings planned for early next week. Is that
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  Speaker 3: your understanding. I suspect you'd be the first to be
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  Speaker 3: in the room.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm not on Intel, I'm on ways and means
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  Speaker 4: in foreign affairs. But we do need to have briefings.
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  Speaker 4: The administration needs to come to Congress as soon as
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  Speaker 4: we get back and brief us in a classified format,
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  Speaker 4: laying out its justification for the attack, laying out its
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  Speaker 4: legal authority for taking this attack. And quite honestly, I
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  Speaker 4: don't think the American people wants this administration running another country.
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  Speaker 4: They're already having enough trouble running this country.
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  Speaker 1: Congressman, what about that? That was one of the more
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  Speaker 1: startling revelations of that press conference when President Trump said, well,
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  Speaker 1: who's going to be running Venezuela and he kind of
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  Speaker 1: gestured to the people behind him, and then more follow
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  Speaker 1: ups from the press. What is the mechanism for this?
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  Speaker 1: How long he basically said. At one point he said,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it could take about a year, and then
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  Speaker 1: he said, but it takes a very long time to
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  Speaker 1: get the oil. And then he said, not only would
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  Speaker 1: the US be using that oil to pay for I'm
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  Speaker 1: assuming it's administration of Venezuela, but would also be reimbursing
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  Speaker 1: its health for damages. Donald Trump Sayszezuela has inflicted on
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  Speaker 1: the United States.
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  Speaker 4: Well, for Trumpet, it's always about the money. It's always
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  Speaker 4: about enriching himself. So that's a concern. This administration hasn't
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  Speaker 4: earned the benefit of the doubt from the American people
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  Speaker 4: to know that it's putting American interests first and not
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  Speaker 4: the interests of folks like Trump and his family and friends.
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  Speaker 4: That said, we need to understand what are the steps
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  Speaker 4: to ensure that Venezuela doesn't descend into a state of
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  Speaker 4: chaos and threatened the entire region. It's ironic that thirty
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  Speaker 4: five years ago today Noriega, President Noriega of Panama, surrendered
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  Speaker 4: to US forces.
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  Speaker 2: The US invaded Panama on.
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  Speaker 4: December twentieth of nineteen eighty nine.
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  Speaker 2: Noriega was arrested.
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  Speaker 4: The difference was on December twentieth, the day of that invasion,
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  Speaker 4: the United States put in place a new president from Panama.
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  Speaker 4: The Panamanian people governed themselves, and so we need to
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  Speaker 4: understand why that isn't happening here.
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  Speaker 2: And as you noted earlier that the.
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  Speaker 4: President has said he doesn't have confidence in the opposition leader,
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  Speaker 4: she has broad trust of the Venezuelan people.
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  Speaker 2: We need to make sure that we have a government.
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  Speaker 4: Of Venezuelans for Venezuelans, protecting their interests, in ensuring a
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  Speaker 4: strong relationship with the regent.
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  Speaker 3: Saw your statement on Twitter earlier, Congressman, you write, Maduro
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  Speaker 3: is a bad guy who deserves to be brought to justice,
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  Speaker 3: but that does not mean President Trump has blanket authority
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  Speaker 3: to send the US military into a foreign land without
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  Speaker 3: authorization by Congress. There have been multiple attempts by Democrats.
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  Speaker 3: We spoke recently with Congressman Jim McGovern about his effort
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  Speaker 3: to get a War Powers Act on the floor of
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  Speaker 3: the House. You don't see that going anywhere with a
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  Speaker 3: Republican majority, do you not?
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  Speaker 4: With this majority who have lost their sense of responsibility.
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  Speaker 4: The founders established with the Constitution three co equal branches
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  Speaker 4: of government, and they rightly put the authority to declare war,
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  Speaker 4: to take the United States into foreign conflicts, to put
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  Speaker 4: US troops.
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  Speaker 2: In harm's way. Put that with the Congress.
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  Speaker 4: It is the Congress that faces the voters every two years.
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  Speaker 4: Is the Congress today four hundred and thirty five representatives
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  Speaker 4: who reflect the interest and the values of the American
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  Speaker 4: people as a whole, And it is Congress who has
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  Speaker 4: the ability to respond and react. We need to make
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  Speaker 4: sure that Congressional authority is protected. We need to take
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  Speaker 4: back that authority that this administration is. You served not
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  Speaker 4: just on war powers, but we've seen on tariffs in
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  Speaker 4: so many other areas. We need to stand up to
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  Speaker 4: this administration and say Congress is a coequal branch, not
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  Speaker 4: a subordinate branch.
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  Speaker 1: Congressman, do you have any inclination or any hints from
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  Speaker 1: your colleagues across the aisle that this may be a
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  Speaker 1: step too far. Have you heard any rumblings or whispers.
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  Speaker 1: I know it's very early that not all members of
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  Speaker 1: the party may be behind these actions. In the days
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  Speaker 1: and weeks to come, that you could see some defections
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  Speaker 1: from across the aisle.
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  Speaker 4: I would be surprised if there weren't some. I know
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  Speaker 4: a lot of my Republican friends. They believe in the Constitution.
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  Speaker 4: They ran for Congress to make a difference in the
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  Speaker 4: lives of the people they represent, but also to respect
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  Speaker 4: the idea that we are a collequal branch of the
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  Speaker 4: federal government. And so I would be surprised if you
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  Speaker 4: don't hear a broad outcry the administration. If it is
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  Speaker 4: able to present legal justification, is if it is egal,
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  Speaker 4: If it is able to present a strategy that lays
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  Speaker 4: out their vision for transferring power quickly and restoring the
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  Speaker 4: government of Venezuela to the people of Venezuela, maybe that
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  Speaker 4: will temperate. But what we heard today in the president's
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  Speaker 4: press conference, he intends to take the oil for his
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  Speaker 4: own benefit. He intends to put his own friends in charge,
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  Speaker 4: and he intends to let the United States run another country,
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  Speaker 4: something that we haven't done in a very long time.
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  Speaker 1: Congress and Brodchenier, thank you so much for joining us.
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  Speaker 1: We appreciate you taking the time.
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  Speaker 3: As we continue our special coverage from Washington, the President
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  Speaker 3: is posting more on social media, Truth Social with a
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  Speaker 3: new video up of the strikes with a soundtrack Fortunate
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  Speaker 3: Sun by Credence Clearwater Revival. As you watch these strikes
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  Speaker 3: take place, the explosions on the horizon. It was a
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  Speaker 3: video taken from what appears to be a balcony in
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  Speaker 3: an apartment building, remembering, of course that that.
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  Speaker 2: Was an anti war anthem from Vietnam.
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  Speaker 3: But it calls into question the optics coming from this administration,
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  Speaker 3: of course, a self declared America first president, and whether
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  Speaker 3: this justification that the President has delivered will be accepted
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  Speaker 3: by the Magabas and others who support President Trump. It's
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  Speaker 3: part of the conversation we want to have with Justin Logan,
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  Speaker 3: who's director of Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the
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  Speaker 3: Cato Institute. Justin, thanks for being with us here on
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  Speaker 3: Bloomberg TV and Radio.
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  Speaker 2: What are your thoughts this morning?
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  Speaker 3: Just to begin with this afternoon, I should say, at
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  Speaker 3: this point, now with the strikes behind us, but a
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  Speaker 3: massive American armadas still off the coast of Venezuela, is
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  Speaker 3: this over from a military standpoint?
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  Speaker 5: I don't know.
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  Speaker 6: Is something you're never supposed to say on TV, but
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  Speaker 6: it happens to be the truth.
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  Speaker 2: I love that answer. To me.
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  Speaker 6: The takeaway here is that the President didn't say we're
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  Speaker 6: going to be running Venezuela in an offhand response to
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  Speaker 6: a question. It was clearly in his prepared remarks. So
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  Speaker 6: that is surprising to me. I mean, I think the
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  Speaker 6: President knows that the American people are not ready for
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  Speaker 6: a large nation building campaign inside Venezuela.
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  Speaker 5: But to use the words that he used, We're.
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  Speaker 6: Going to quote run the country as long as we
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  Speaker 6: can until a safe, proper and judicious transition can take place.
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  Speaker 6: And then he talked about that would establish peace, liberty,
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  Speaker 6: and justice for the Venezuelan people. That's a very heavy
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  Speaker 6: lift for the United States. And then at the end
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  Speaker 6: of of the conversation at the press conference, rather he
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  Speaker 6: remarked that the prime candidate for taking over the country
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  Speaker 6: with a vision of peace, liberty, and justice, Maria Cornamachillo,
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  Speaker 6: was not in the cards he sort of said that
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  Speaker 6: she doesn't have the confidence of the Venezuelan.
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  Speaker 5: People and that it would be very tough for her.
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  Speaker 6: So we're missing huge pieces of the story if in fact,
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  Speaker 6: the Americans are going to be running Venezuela.
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  Speaker 1: And that was really startling, especially given how much effort
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  Speaker 1: she's put into curating that relationship with President Trump, making
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  Speaker 1: sure you say supportive things of him in almost every
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  Speaker 1: interview she's had, being supportive of his strikes on these
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  Speaker 1: drug boats or fishing boats or whatever they tend to be.
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  Speaker 1: I also want to ask you, justin your latest op
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  Speaker 1: ed was entitled mister President, don't do it. Obviously he
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  Speaker 1: missed that memo, but I've got an excerpt from it here,
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  Speaker 1: you say the administration's public case for its Venezuela policy
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  Speaker 1: is insultingly ridiculous. At an October fifteenth press conference, the
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  Speaker 1: President declared that every boat we knock out, we saved
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  Speaker 1: twenty five thousand American lives. Considering that they were only
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  Speaker 1: around eighty four thousand overdoses in the United States last year,
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  Speaker 1: and that they have so far blown up ten boats,
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  Speaker 1: they should have declared victory and come home and votes ago.
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  Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean trying to pin down the case for this.
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  Speaker 6: And I'm old enough to have been around during the
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  Speaker 6: Iraq war run up, right, there was a sort of
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  Speaker 6: more linear story told then than there has been told now.
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  Speaker 6: The President started this campaign against Venezuela by talking about
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  Speaker 6: fentanyl coming out of Venezuela. Someone apparently let him know
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  Speaker 6: that fentanyl doesn't come out of Venezuela. And now you
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  Speaker 6: heard in the press conference today he was referencing three
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  Speaker 6: hundred thousand overdoses, when in fact, there are now less
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  Speaker 6: than eighty thousand overdoses total in the United States each year,
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  Speaker 6: most of which are due to fentanyl. There is some
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  Speaker 6: cocaine that comes to the United States via Venezuela, but
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  Speaker 6: that accounts for a relatively small number of those overdose deaths.
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  Speaker 6: So at times this is about the sort of indictment
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  Speaker 6: of Nicolas Maduro and his wife in the United States.
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  Speaker 6: And you heard this weird fusion of the Defense Department
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  Speaker 6: allegedly responding to a Department of Justice request to suppress
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  Speaker 6: Venezuelan air defenses and to embed law enforcement officers in
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  Speaker 6: sort of delta force raids. So there's this weird blurring
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  Speaker 6: together both of rationales that this is about law enforcement somehow,
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  Speaker 6: but it's also about, as Pete Hegseth said, the safety, security, freedom,
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  Speaker 6: and prosperity of the American people.
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  Speaker 5: The American people have not been.
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  Speaker 6: Crying out for regime change in Venezuela outside of maybe
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  Speaker 6: pockets in South Florida, if you will. So this trying
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  Speaker 6: to pin down exactly what the ends, ways, and means
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  Speaker 6: of this campaign are has been, you know, even for
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  Speaker 6: somebody who's been in this business for a while, a
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  Speaker 6: pretty heavy lift.
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  Speaker 3: Last question for you, justin we've only got about a minute.
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  Speaker 3: I want to get back to where we began, and
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  Speaker 3: that's the justification for this military action. The President said, quote,
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  Speaker 3: we built Venezuela's oil industry with American talent, drive, and skill,
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  Speaker 3: and the socialist regime stole it from us. Well, the
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  Speaker 3: American electorate appreciate that point.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean it's a pretty icy thing to say.
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  Speaker 6: You know, we went into this country with our military
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  Speaker 6: and deposed its leader to protect and you heard Marco
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  Speaker 6: Rubio talking about not you know, American assets, but the
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  Speaker 6: assets of American oil companies.
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  Speaker 5: Right, are you going to go out and campaign for
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  Speaker 5: office in twenty twenty eight.
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  Speaker 6: If you're running for the presidency by saying we, you know,
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  Speaker 6: went in Venezuela and to protect oil company's revenue streams, right,
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  Speaker 6: that just strikes me as a weird political pitch in
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  Speaker 6: an era where Americans are asking for more help at home,
• 15:31
  Speaker 6: for more focus at home, and I think there's a
• 15:34
  Speaker 6: real exhaustion with the overall amount of foreign policy activity
• 15:37
  Speaker 6: this administration has had thus far as compared with domestic policy.
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  Speaker 3: With his view from the Cato Institute, justin Logan, we
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  Speaker 3: thank you very much for your insights. Before we get
• 15:47
  Speaker 3: some final thoughts from our political panel, we want to
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: get the latest right now from our newsroom. In a
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: day that has brought many developments to this story, let's
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: turn out to Nathan Hager.
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  Speaker 2: Nathan, what do you have? Well, you said it, Joe,
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 7: President Trump says the US as a same actually running Venezuela.
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  Speaker 2: Now.
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  Speaker 7: After an overnight round of airstrikes at a special forces
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  Speaker 7: operation that ended with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicholas
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  Speaker 7: Madua and First Lady Cilia Flores, they are now on
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  Speaker 7: their way to New York, where they will face charges
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  Speaker 7: of narco terrorism, conspiracy, and drug trafficking. Here is what
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  Speaker 7: President Trump had to say at a mar Lago news conference.
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  Speaker 4: We're going to run the country until such time as
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  Speaker 4: we can do a safe, proper.
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  Speaker 2: And judicious transition.
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  Speaker 4: So we don't want to be involved with having somebody
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  Speaker 4: else get in.
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  Speaker 2: And we have the same situation that we had for
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  Speaker 2: the last long period of years. So we are going
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  Speaker 2: to run the country.
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  Speaker 7: And the President says the US stands ready to carry
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  Speaker 7: out a second strike. It's not afraid to deploy troops
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  Speaker 7: in Venezuela if needed. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Karina Machado
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  Speaker 7: posted on x that the oppositions ready to quote honor
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  Speaker 7: their mandate and assume power, but President Trump says Machado
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  Speaker 7: does not have the respect or sot to lead the country.
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  Speaker 2: I'm Nathan Hager in Washington. Joe and Christina back to you.
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  Speaker 3: All right, Nathan, thank you so much for all of
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: your contributions. Today, we're live in Washington on a special
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: edition of Balance of Power here on Bloomberg TV and Radio.
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: As we reassemble our political panel, Bloomberg Politics contributor Genie
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: Shanzino is with us, our democratic analyst and Democracy visiting
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center, alongside Republican strategist
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: Lester Munson from the International Practice at BGR Group.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: All right, let's hear from both of you.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: Now that the President has spoken, GENNI, did he make
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: the case for this military action?
• 17:37
  Speaker 8: I think he opened a lot more questions than he answered.
• 17:41
  Speaker 8: The idea that Marco Rubio, who already has something to
• 17:44
  Speaker 8: three to four jobs by any count is going to
• 17:46
  Speaker 8: be joining this team and running Venezuela.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: I don't think many.
• 17:49
  Speaker 8: Of us expected it, and how that is going to happen,
• 17:52
  Speaker 8: for what length, who is going to do it. He's
• 17:54
  Speaker 8: opened to boots on the ground. All of this is
• 17:56
  Speaker 8: just an astonishing development. So I think a lot more
• 18:00
  Speaker 8: questions here as in regards to what the President said
• 18:03
  Speaker 8: than answers.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: Lester, I have a slightly less sophisticated question for you.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: In a press conference that had a lot of staggering,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: memorable moments, one that stood out to me was actually
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: Marco Rubio because while even President Trump, of course, he
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: strayed from his prepared remarks, the Admiral Haig Seth, we're
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: all reading from prepared remarks. We saw Rubio do something
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: we don't usually see from him. Where he got up
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: and very casually said, I don't have much else to add,
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: but he said, you know, Maduo wanted to play the
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: big guy, and he spoke off the cuff. He spoke
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: in a very regular manner, and he spoke a little
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: bit more like we usually hear Donald Trump do. And
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: I'm wondering, given all the talk about you know, advance Rubio,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: Rubio dvance ticket, if he is jostling a little bit
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: to be air apparent and if that's what was going
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: on here.
• 18:55
  Speaker 9: Yeah, boy, you could you could read a lot into that.
• 18:57
  Speaker 9: I think it's a great question. I think the Secretary
• 19:01
  Speaker 9: of State did a good job. He looked very comfortable.
• 19:03
  Speaker 9: He was being very politically smart. He wasn't really.
• 19:06
  Speaker 5: Taking ownership of this issue.
• 19:09
  Speaker 9: He was letting the president President Trump go out there
• 19:12
  Speaker 9: and make the case to kind of the magabase. Hey,
• 19:15
  Speaker 9: this matters to you. Trump talked about the young victim
• 19:19
  Speaker 9: of trend Arragua in Texas and said this is you know,
• 19:23
  Speaker 9: this matters for our people, and Rubio was happy to
• 19:27
  Speaker 9: kind of step aside and let him do that. I
• 19:29
  Speaker 9: think we all sense that Rubio has been playing a
• 19:32
  Speaker 9: huge role in this policy making leading up to this
• 19:35
  Speaker 9: in this moment and is clearly going to play a
• 19:37
  Speaker 9: big role in the future. So very interesting positioning by him.
• 19:41
  Speaker 9: But I think he did a very good job.
• 19:43
  Speaker 3: Well, just to extend that a little bit, Genie, this
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: did seem to be a family operation here. If you
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: could see the cutaway shot in the room, the whole
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: team was with the president, either behind the podium or
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: off to the side. Hag Seth Cain, Rubio, but also
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: Steven Miller was there, Ratcliffe's CIA. Did you notice cash
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: but Tell of the FBI was off to the side
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: next to Steve Whitkoff. Where they all should we assume?
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Were they all involved in this process? And will they
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: all somehow together run Venezuela?
• 20:15
  Speaker 8: That's what we were told. I mean, it was quite
• 20:17
  Speaker 8: a stunning display. I thought it was smart that jd. Vance,
• 20:20
  Speaker 8: at least as far as I could see from my perch,
• 20:23
  Speaker 8: was not there because politically, if this thing goes a foul,
• 20:26
  Speaker 8: it would hurt him and running for twenty eight So
• 20:29
  Speaker 8: that was interesting. But I do think there is absolutely
• 20:32
  Speaker 8: no distance between Donald Trump and the people in his cabinet,
• 20:35
  Speaker 8: and that's by design. And one really interesting thing I
• 20:38
  Speaker 8: saw I thought Rubio had to say was the fact
• 20:41
  Speaker 8: that there are instances in which the administration does not
• 20:45
  Speaker 8: need to inform Congress about a military activity if it
• 20:49
  Speaker 8: is a law enforcement activity. This is news, I think
• 20:53
  Speaker 8: to many of us in the legal community. Will be
• 20:55
  Speaker 8: interesting to see what Congress and the courts have to
• 20:58
  Speaker 8: say about that.
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: And Lester, we talked earlier about how this is allegedly
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: nominally the non interventionist wing of the Republican Party, and
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: we were wondering how this was going to get sold
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: to Trump's supporters. The President was asked that question directly,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: how is this America first? And he said it's in
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: America's interest to have good neighbors. And the oil, he
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: said energy, Having energy is in America's best interest. What
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: are your takes on that? And do you think Trump
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: voters are going to buy that?
• 21:27
  Speaker 9: Yeah, this is classic kind of Jacksonian approach which to
• 21:32
  Speaker 9: foreign policy, which is is the US getting something out
• 21:35
  Speaker 9: of this? And I think President Trump believes if he
• 21:38
  Speaker 9: goes out and makes the case we're getting the oil,
• 21:40
  Speaker 9: We're going to manage the oil. This belonged to us,
• 21:42
  Speaker 9: We're taking it back that's going to resonate with that magabase,
• 21:46
  Speaker 9: and there's a lot of evidence that that may be true.
• 21:50
  Speaker 9: And I think he's he's clearly was using this hour
• 21:53
  Speaker 9: or so to shape that argument with his base. There's
• 21:57
  Speaker 9: been some criticism of this, you know, you think of
• 21:59
  Speaker 9: someone like Tucker Carlson, who's been openly critical of some
• 22:02
  Speaker 9: of the decisions the administration has made. This is a
• 22:06
  Speaker 9: real attempt by the President to go straight at that argument.
• 22:09
  Speaker 9: I think it's I think it's going to be relatively effective.
• 22:12
  Speaker 9: At the end of the day, the person the Magabase
• 22:14
  Speaker 9: trusts the most is Donald Trump. He knows that, and
• 22:17
  Speaker 9: as long as he never turns his back on them,
• 22:20
  Speaker 9: they're going to be with him.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: Fascinating conversation with the help of Lester Munson and Jeanie Shanzano.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Many thanks to both of you.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: We're going to need your help next week as we
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: unpack all of what we have learned here today.