Trump discusses expansion of drug cartel crackdown, issues grim warning to Iran
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President Donald Trump said in an interview on “Hannity” on Thursday that the United States would expand operations against drug cartels and touted the overthrow of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.
Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump said, “We have neutralized 97 percent of the drugs coming through the water, and now we will start reaching land.” “The cartels rule Mexico; it’s very sad to watch and see what’s happening to this country.”
“They kill 250,000 to 300,000 people every year in our country.”
The meeting was the president’s first sit-down interview since Maduro’s capture.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro delivers his state of the nation address at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on January 12, 2023. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)
Trump praised the US military personnel involved in the Venezuelan operations and expressed admiration for what he called the “fantastic group” carrying out the mission.
“[Maduro’s] “The house was in the middle of a fortress with thousands of people and soldiers,” Trump explained. “And so we went right in the middle of a fortress. Who would have thought you could do this without losing anyone? But they planned it so well, General ‘Razin Caine’ and Pete Hegseth were amazing.”
The President referred to the number of Cuban soldiers “destroyed” in the military operation.
“I don’t even want to say how many, but they were destroyed,” Trump said.
The president also unveiled the “Donroe Doctrine,” a term some of his admirers created for his style of foreign policy.
“Well, they call it ‘Donroe’ – I didn’t say that, but they call it the Monroe Doctrine. And now they call it ‘Donroe’, which is basically safe for this part of the world. And yeah, I mean, it’s pretty simple: We don’t want drugs flowing into our country,” Trump said. :We do not want bad people to come to our district, as has been the case for four years under Biden, the most disgraceful, worst president in the history of our country. We had other bad ones too. Let me tell you, Obama was a terrible president. The division and hatred it causes; “Many people were allowed into the country.”
“But what Biden did was a step beyond anything anyone has ever done,” the president continued. “Millions of people have flooded across the border. No one comes in anymore unless they come legally.”
Trump also touched on whether he thinks Cuba can survive without Venezuela’s support.
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An oil tanker is seen docking in Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo after loading crude oil from the port of the Bajo Grande Refinery. (Jose Bula Urrutia/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
“No. Cuba relies entirely on Venezuela for money and oil, and they provide protection to Venezuela,” the president said.
Along with Venezuela agreeing to release all political prisoners, Trump touted oil as one of America’s many gains from Maduro’s ouster.
“[Venezuela] They were great. They really were. So they gave us everything we wanted,” Trump told Fox News.
It is reported that the revenues from Venezuelan oil will be used for the benefit of both the Venezuelan people and the USA. And Trump said the oil was worth “billions and billions.”
President Donald Trump sat down with Fox News’ Sean Hannity for an exclusive interview at the White House. This marks the first sit-in since the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. (Fox News)
He announced that he will meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
“14 of the best companies are coming here,” Trump said. “They will rebuild the entire oil infrastructure.”
President Trump also discussed Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s offer to award her the Nobel Peace Prize for liberating Venezuela.
Although Trump did not directly say whether he would receive the award, he said it would be “a great honor” and announced that Machado would visit the White House next week.
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Much of Trump’s conversation with Hannity focused on foreign policy and expanded to widespread protests against the regime in Iran.
Trump issued a stern warning to the Iranian regime and promised to support Iranians protesting against them.
“They started taking people’s lives in the past,” he said. “And suddenly people with no weapons are standing there and shooting them with machine guns or taking them to prisons and then hanging them and killing them.”
“They played hard,” he added. “If they do that, we’re going to hit them hard. We can hit them hard. We’re ready to do that.”
