US ‘not at war’ in Venezuela, Johnson says after briefing with top officials | US news
The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, said Monday that the United States is “not at war” in Venezuela, despite Donald Trump’s weekend raid ordered to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his announcement that the United States will now “rule” the country.
The surprise attack followed months of mounting US pressure on Venezuela, including a blockade of some oil shipments and airstrikes on ships off its coast that have killed at least 110 people.
Trump claimed that newly sworn-in interim leader Delcy Rodríguez would cooperate with demands from US oil majors to take control of Venezuela’s vast crude reserves; But Democrats criticized the President for involving the United States in the kind of conflict he was trying to avoid without permission from Congress.
Following a briefing by senior administration officials, including secretary of state Marco Rubio, defense secretary Pete Hegseth and attorney general Pam Bondi, Johnson told reporters that Trump was not considering taking control of Venezuela militarily.
“We are not at war. We do not have US armed forces in Venezuela and we are not invading that country,” said Johnson, adding that he disagreed with Democrats’ criticism that Trump broke the law by not notifying Congress about the attack in advance.
“This is not a regime change. This is a request for a change in the regime’s behavior. The interim government is now on its feet and we hope they can correct their actions,” the speaker said.
The Trump administration has claimed that Maduro runs a “narco-terrorist” government that smuggles drugs, including fentanyl, into the United States, but experts dispute that claim. They also argue that Maduro has allowed US rivals such as China and Russia, as well as armed groups such as Hezbollah, to operate in Venezuela, giving them a foothold in the western hemisphere.
Johnson predicted that the White House’s strategy of strangling Venezuela’s oil production would force the socialist government to change and eventually hold new elections. Analysis of the 2024 presidential election results in Venezuela shows that Maduro stole the victory of the main opposition candidate.
“We have a method of persuasion because, as you know, oil exports were confiscated. I think this will bring the country to a new administration in a very short time,” he said. “That’s why we don’t expect soldiers on the ground.”
Democratic Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said the briefing “raised many more questions than it has ever answered” and warned that the United States was on the verge of being drawn into a new war.
“U.S. plans for governing Venezuela are vague, wishful thinking, and unsatisfactory,” Schumer said. “I did not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries… When the United States engages in this kind of regime change and so-called nation-building, it always hurts the United States. I left the briefing with the feeling that it would happen again.”
Maduro, who was arrested along with his wife Cilia Flores, was indicted by federal prosecutors on four charges related to weapons, drugs and narco-terrorism. He pleaded not guilty at an initial hearing in New York City early Monday. Dozens of countries condemned the US strike as a “crime of aggression” at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
Democratic senators plan to vote later this week on a war powers resolution that would require congressional authorization for Trump to take any military action in Venezuela. It’s unclear whether it has enough support to pass the Republican-controlled chamber.
Monday’s briefing was given only to top Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the bipartisan leaders of each chamber’s committees that oversee intelligence, foreign policy and the armed forces. Johnson said senior administration officials will return to the Capitol on Wednesday to brief all lawmakers on the Venezuela strategy.
Although the Trump administration described the raid as a law enforcement operation backed by the military, Congressional judiciary committees were not present at Monday’s briefing.
Republican Senate judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley and Democratic ranking member Dick Durbin issued a rare joint statement protesting their exclusion: “There is no legitimate basis for excluding the Senate judiciary committee from this briefing.
“The administration’s refusal to acknowledge our committee’s undisputed jurisdiction on this matter is unacceptable, and we are pursuing the matter to ensure the committee receives assured information regarding Maduro’s arrest.”
Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the House foreign relations committee, said there was no need for Congress to weigh in before the attack, saying it was “not an operation that required a permit.”
He compared Maduro’s capture to Trump’s 2020 killing of powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani or the bombing raid the president ordered on Tehran’s nuclear facilities in June, describing them as quick military actions that achieved their goals without requiring a long-term commitment from U.S. troops.
“They are not protracted war management, never have been. They have not created a protracted war,” Mast said.
