Trump, just now: Military action not off the table for Venezuela

[Doimper]

Hello darkness my old friend

[Crumpets]

"Trump is non-interventionist! Hillary is the hawkish candidate!"

[Dr. Arch]

This man is out of control. Stop him! Holy crap.

[mileslunn]

Good God.  I guess he needs to find a distraction to improve his approval ratings.  Venezuela's Maduro is becoming a dictator, but there are many autocrats around the world like him.  Maduro needs to go but change needs to come from within.  Has the US not learned that people no matter how awful their leader is don't like outsiders interfering.  Never mind the US election is still over 3 years away and considering how public approval of both the Vietnam and Iraq War turned sharply against him, invading them might hurt rather than help his chances.

[Doimper]

@lesleyclark:

"I'm not going to rule out a military option," Trump says of Venezuela. "We have many options, including military options."

[GeorgiaModerate]

Have I missed something, or has Venezuela threatened the U.S. recently?

[Maxwell]

Meanwhile Trump is in love with al-Sisi, Duterte, Putin, and every other vengeful dictator that exists.

I'm not saying that as any kind of defense of Maduro. Maduro is a bastard who should be locked away for a long time. but Military Action in this situation is god damn cuckoo.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I guess preemptive action on North Korea must be off the table now.

[JA]

Meanwhile Trump is in love with al-Sisi, Duterte, Putin, and every other vengeful dictator that exists.

I'm not saying that as any kind of defense of Maduro. Maduro is a bastard who should be locked away for a long time. but Military Action in this situation is god damn cuckoo.

Military action is only a possibility in Washington against left-wing or uncooperative states. They're perfectly happy hanging out with and arming States like Saudi Arabia where democracy bloggers are imprisoned and whipped, and people still have their heads chopped off.

[#TheShadowyAbyss]

I want Trump supporters to defend this.

[GGover]

I only support this if it means we colonize Venezuela and make it a state by 2067.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

What happened to "America First"?

[TheSaint250]

What happened to "America First"?

[Confused Democrat]

I want Trump supporters to defend this.

This is actually an easy statement for them to defend.

All they have to say is that "all options are on the table including a military one." They'll also say that it's a "last resort but still an option."

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I wonder if he thinks bellicose rhetoric on North Korea upped his poll numbers, so he's doing more of it?

[ProudModerate2]

Somebody remind me: what idiots here on Atlas voted for and put this clown in office.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Here's a link:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/11/trump-on-venezuela-im-not-going-to-rule-out-a-military-option.html

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[Santander]

All options are always on the table.

[GGover]

The timing of this is incredibly stupid.

What is Trump even trying to accomplish?

[Coraxion]

What the hell?

[Sumner 1868]

Trump never pretended he was a non-interventionist- he said over and over he was okay with bombing ISIS and drones. His alt-right fans only oppose war if it offends the honor of Vladimir Putin. Democrats could have pointed this out in the campaign, but they were rather busy screaming at the rump antiwar movement for opposing the possibility of intervention in Syria.

[DrScholl]

Venezuela has not threatened our country. If Trump is even considering this, it has to do with oil reserves and trying to get them under his company's control.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

The timing of this is incredibly stupid.

What is Trump even trying to accomplish?

My best guess is nothing. Remember, Trump's default response is that of the kid who didn't study the material and definitely didn't do his homework called up in front of the class to answer a question. His thought process may look something like this:

Venezuela, Venezuela, yeah, yeah, they're a mess right now, we don't get along with them. This Maduro guy, I haven't met him, he's the wrong kind of dictator. He hasn't groveled for me at all.  What would Obama do? I don't know. I don't know what these reporters are talking about. Obama probably wouldn't do something military. Military has been working good for me lately. Syria, very Presidential. North Korea, poll numbers up. Don't wanna commit to anything though, never commit yourself. Oh man they're all staring at me.

"We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary." Yeah, got 'em by surprise! They weren't expecting that! Boom, more attention to how hugely presidential I am!

[ProudModerate2]

It's the narcissism again.
He sees the news where they show him talking "tough" (supposedly) about North Korea, and he gets a major hard-on from that.
So like a 13-year child, he continues to talk in this manner to get more attention, but thinks nothing about the consequences of his neurotic words.
The man is very mentally ill !

[JA]

It's the narcissism again.
He sees the news where they show him talking "tough" (supposedly) about North Korea, and he gets a major hard-on from that.
So like a 13-year child, he continues to talk in this manner to get more attention, but thinks nothing about the consequences of his neurotic words.
The man is very mentally ill !

Trump may articulate these issues at a 3rd grade level and through the medium of his narcissistic brain rage posting on Twitter and attention whoring for the media, but Trump's policies represent large financial and powerful interests within the United States. His Administration does nothing without having an underlying motivation for it - one which is obscured by the Democrats' and media's obsessions over his personal antics. If North Korea is attacked or Venezuela is invaded, it's not simply because Trump threw a tantrum - it was calculated, intentional, and aimed at achieving specific foreign policy objectives that advance particular American financial and power interests.