Outside the Beltway

Source: Screenshot of Trump Address

“We’re going to run the country…”

“People are being designated” dontcha know.

Steven L. Taylor
22

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I am currently watching Trump address the nation to ostensibly explain US actions in Venezuela earlier today.

Despite some ridiculous speculation by Wolf Blitzer and his coterie of CNN commentators, Trump’s lateness to the podium was not because he was getting some new, updated information to share with the American people, nor did he proffer any defense to his MAGA base about why this was an “America First” action.

Setting aside the rambling digressions into street crime, I am currently trying to understand what it means that “We’re going to run the country.” If this is true, is he suggesting that at this very moment we are actively in control of the sovereign state of Venezuela? This does not seem to be the case. As best as I can tell from reporting and from the briefing, it does seem that we have occupied Caracas.

General Caine just said, as I type, that our forces remain “in the region,” but that does not suggest active control of Venezuela.

Trump says we are going to be “running it with a group.” That clears things up. They are currently “designating people,” he said, and that the people behind him (Hegseth, Rubio, Caine, etc.) would be “running it.” He also seems awfully concerned with “reimbursements”–whatever that means.

“Run[ning] the country” is orders of magnitude more complicated than was the extraction of Maduro.

I will state, too, that all of this has been a reminder of why I don’t watch much cable news. As I waited for Trump to speak, I saw a lot of Very Serious commentators on CNN engage in a lot of silly speculation and a whole lot of awe about the operation while ignoring some rather large issues, not the least of which being the wisdom and legality of these actions.

I will acknowledge that the extraction of Maduro was an impressive operation, but that really isn’t the main story. The real issues are just now starting.

Some things I plan to address.

  • Trump’s weird interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine (spoiler: the original Monroe Doctrine was about keeping European influence out of the hemisphere). At best, Trump is really applying a version of the Roosevelt Corollary of the Monroe Doctrine (spoiler: that corollary is basically just an excuse for imperialism).
  • The whole claim that Venezuela stole “our” oil. This refers, I think, to the 1976 nationalization of private oil company assets by the Venezuelan government. It seems worth noting that the companies in question were compensated. Regardless of what one thinks about nationalization policies, this was a sovereign act of a legitimate (and at the time, highly democratic) government, and I am going to boldly note that being a thing that happened almost 50 years ago is the kind of thing that is hard to see as justifying a coup in 2026.

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22 responses to ““We’re going to run the country…””

  1. Michael Reynolds Avatar
    Michael Reynolds

    Why are so negative, Steven? I foresee no problems.

    8
  2. Rob1 Avatar
    Rob1

    Running Venezuela —- because Afghanistan and Iraq went so well.

    The US invasion of Venezuela is the logical culmination of MAGA’s revival of our Latin America “gunboat diplomacy.” And this is a nod to Putin and Xi to pursue their expansionism.

    Trump is too ignorant, too addled, too mentally impaired, and in deep decline, to have conceived of this action — or most of his administration’s offensively hair-brained actions. No, this is proof positive that corporate America is in charge of US foreign policy, and working closely with the equally ignorant ideologue/culture warrior minders that now form a toxic bubble around Trump, feeding him delusions and conspiracy that find fertile ground in his enfeebled, febrile, conspiracy drunk brain. Really, such is the accurate use of the phrase “Trump Derangement Syndrome” — a moral/mental impairment that is viral and spreads outward from the source to sycophants and opportunists, empowered by, well, unfettered power.

    We have seen this kind of sociocentric ignorance muddle through disastrous foreign policy in Afghanistan and Iraq, failing to understand the true nature of a society, believing that “might would make right.” Venezuela (and Maduro) have the support of both Russian and China, possess a large population segment that supports Maduro, and have a long history of insurgency.
    These are people who will fight back.

    Americans need to take heed. If the power clique that now runs our country will violently flex military might under the cover of fabricated pretext south of our border, they are less restrained to do so in our own country. These people are evil and they will use their political status to bend good people into their corrupted frame of mind.

    13
  3. Mu Yixiao Avatar
    Mu Yixiao

    @Rob1:

    No, this is proof positive that corporate America is in charge of US foreign policy

    Nobody in “corporate America” wants this. This will likely destabilize an entire continent, creating chaos with supply lines, resource acquisition, tariffs and customs, and the millions of man-hours that all these disruptions will cost them. “Corporate America” wants stability, reasonably free trade, and clearly-defined rules so they can plan ahead.

    Trust me. Trump’s bullshit has cost the company I work for plenty–and we’re part of “corporate America”.

    This is all about posers who think they’re righteous and now feel powerful because Trump was stupid, gullible, and vain enough to give them authority.

    I’m just waiting for all of the countries of South and Central America–along with Mexico and any other allies–to impose sanctions on the US. China is going to side with South America (they’ve been building relations with SA for at least the past 15 years via economic investment–which doesn’t come with the US-imposed “morality clauses”. Or, actually, any real strings.

    With this move, SA/CA/MX have *zero* reason to trust the US. They’re going to start looking elsewhere. The EU doesn’t have much to offer. Africa has a lot to offer–but only as a “future potential”. Africa is, with the right investment, is poised to become the new Asia in terms of cheap resources and cheap labor. China knows that. That’s the premise behind the “Belt and Road” initiative. If the US is saying they’re going to start “colonizing” SA countries, SA and large parts of Africa are going to start looking elsewhere.

    Trump’s puppeteers are incompetent, short-sighted, and going to hand the world to China.

    —
    * China corrupts the process *after* the contracts have been signed (for profit, not politics).

    11
  4. gVOR10 Avatar
    gVOR10

    I’ve been trying to remember a name all morning. Finally got it. Chalibi, Ahmed Chalibi. He somehow came to mind.

    2
  5. wr Avatar
    wr

    Why does everyone keep parroting Trump’s bullshit whitewashing? We’re not going to be “running the country.” We’re going to be occupying it, just like we did Iraq.

    We’re also going to be bringing in the oil companies to rebuild their infrastructure, which will be great until any group in Venezuela that does not like being occupied realizes that huge construction projects in the middle of the jungle are going to be great targets for terror attacks. Which I suspect are already being planned right now.

    Of course that won’t be a problem. We’ll just pour in massive amounts of American troops to protect them. And that won’t be anything like a war.

    More like a “police action.” What could possibly go wrong with a police action?

    8
  6. Jay L. Gischer Avatar
    Jay L. Gischer

    Hey, don’t worry. We’ll be greeted as liberators.

    6
  7. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @wr:

    Why does everyone keep parroting Trump’s bullshit whitewashing?

    I was very purposefully quoting him. To me, it was a shocking statement (although not necessarily surprising) that needed to be specifically noted (and I even screenshot the CC for that purpose).

    For me, this is not whitewashing. The statement is batshit crazy in a variety of ways, not the least of which is that it does not appear to actually comport with reality.

    6
  8. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    If Trump means it, it may be another instance of operational military success setting up political failure.

    It would likely be far better to depart asap and leave the Venezuelans to sort out a deal among themselves.

    3
  9. dazedandconfused Avatar
    dazedandconfused

    Bondi’s indictment is nuts. Possession of machine guns??

    2
  10. Michael Reynolds Avatar
    Michael Reynolds

    @JohnSF:
    There’s no ‘may be’ about it. This will be a disaster for the Venezuelan people and end up costing us money and lives. Trump is surrounded by cowards and morons, none of whom could ‘run’ a McDonalds, let alone a nation of 30 million people. This is madness. These people have lost their fucking minds. These are people so out of touch with reality that they are quite literally capable of starting a nuclear war. All in thrall to this demented rapist.

    5
  11. Sleeping Dog Avatar
    Sleeping Dog

    @dazedandconfused:

    Saw a summary of the indictment earlier and speculation that it could be thrown out. It is nuts. I would like to see the specific laws that he’s alleged to have broken.

    1
  12. dazedandconfused Avatar
    dazedandconfused

    I doubt it will be Jared, too busy making Gaza into a golf club at the moment. Don Jr? Eric? What are those guys up to these days? Herr Miller? Nah, has the right attitude but needed to quell domestic resistance in the US. Elon? Not into oil.

    Bannon??

    1
  13. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    FIFA needs to revoke their Peace Prize.

    6
  14. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @Michael Reynolds:
    “And now, class, we come the US in the early 21’st century, to provide context for the fu@king idiot theory of history…”

    3
  15. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @dazedandconfused:
    Bannon I had pegged as an “anti-intevention” isoaltionist type.
    But otoh, maybe “hemispheric dominance isolation” gets to override that?
    Because reasons.

    2
  16. Ken_L Avatar
    Ken_L

    I agree with wr. “Running the country” will mean taking over the oilfields and infrastructure and using the military to keep them secure. The Venezuelans can do whatever they like in the rest of the country, provided they kick out the Cubans and Chinese and don’t kill Americans.

    It remains to be seen whether the oil companies will take the risk, especially when Trump tells them what the government cut will be.

    2
  17. Daryl Avatar
    Daryl

    I’m old enough to remember Pomade Petey, fresh out of his private makeup studio, saying

    “The U.S. should not be “distracted by democracy building, interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, woke moralizing and feckless nation-building,” Hegseth said. “We will instead put our nation’s practical, concrete interests first.”

    Emphasis, mine.
    I’m not the first to ask, how does occupying Venezuela serve America’s concrete interests?

    3
  18. Gustopher Avatar
    Gustopher

    Nobel Pace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado has praised the operation/invasion/occupation/coup.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuela-maria-corina-machado-releases-letter-read-text-maduro-capture/

    There’s a WaPo op-ed saying she should be the new interim(?) president. And she’s issuing calls to the military for a peaceful transfer of power.

    Maduro is not a good guy, but at least he doesn’t have a Peace Prize, I think.

    This coup might turn out to be the best thing ever for the Venezuelan People (it won’t), but I would think that plotting and executing a coup is not compatible with a peace prize. I would say that this is worse than when Vanessa Williams was Miss America and had her lesbian porn scenes released, and Miss Williams was forced to give up her crown.

    Did the Nobel Committee have a secret 2nd place Peace Prize winner, ready to take over if the winner orchestrated a coup? Did FIFA?

    1
  19. Eusebio Avatar
    Eusebio

    @Gustopher:
    It’s certainly been odd to see the Nobel Peace Prize winner, over the last couple of months, encourage a foreign military overthrow of Venezuela’s government.

    4
  20. Rob1 Avatar
    Rob1

    @Mu Yixiao:

    Nobody in “corporate America” wants this. This will likely destabilize an entire continent, creating chaos with supply lines, resource acquisition, tariffs and customs, and the millions of man-hours that all these disruptions will cost them. “Corporate America” wants stability, reasonably free trade, and clearly-defined rules so they can plan ahead.

    That is incorrect. Oil execs have been observed huddling with Trump several times at the White House through out the months long ramp up to today’s illicit invasion, and have expressed support for the forced “recovery” of assets lost to the Chavez regime.

    This is invasion is an extension of the growing corruption of the Trump administration:

    – extortion by threat of tariff
    – self dealing by friends, family, and corporate sponsors…. (gifts, oh, lordy the gifts!)
    – national policy aligning with personal financial interests and corporate interests.

    I too use to claim that: “Corporate America wants stability, reasonably free trade, and clearly-defined rules so they can plan ahead”. No more. Totally delusional.

    Witness the massive payola to the Trump Administration by media corporations and a varied assortment of corporate entities representing other commercial and industrial sectors. Hell, look at the amount of money that Tech, Oil, Data, poured into Trump’s campaign as well as the campaign coffers of his Congressional candidate toadies in the ramp up to the 2024 election with full knowledge, eyes wide open, as to the utter chaos his bigoted anti-social policies would have on the “status quo.”

    Wake up man. Smashing guardrails against corporate greed, political self-dealing, and ungodly self enrichment is the goal. Instability is both byproduct and means. There is much opportunity for those with power and money to expand their holdings in times of crisis as normative behavior slips away. This is no longer cloaked, but out in the open now. Corporate America, in sufficiently large measure, has cast aside any pretense of our avowed “higher American values” to join in the Trump smash and grab spree. They are no longer our champions, and certainly no friend of American democracy.

    Trump makes it clear this is about oil. (After the oil companies helped buy him the election)

    General McCaffrey: this is about getting Maduro out and Chevron in

    More corruption:

    ‘Their first instinct was to loot’: how Trump’s acolytes are plundering the Kennedy Center

    The agenda has been set for America from the top down.

    3
  21. Rob1 Avatar
    Rob1

    @JohnSF: Bannon is an addled navel gazer. He seems to think the entire algorithm of human society can be teased out of his tangle of belly button lint.

    3
  22. JohnSF Avatar
    JohnSF

    @Rob1:

    “He seems to think the entire algorithm of human society can be teased out of his tangle of belly button lint.”

    Yes, but apart from that, how could he possibly be mistaken? 😉

    I remain uncertain who I abhor more, Bannon or Miller or Kushner

    1

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