In a sharp warning delivered on Fox News’ America Reports, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) cautioned that President-elect Donald Trump may be surrounded by advisors with “ulterior motives” pushing for a conflict in Venezuela—a move Paul argues would violate the Constitution without Congressional approval.
Speaking on the potential for U.S. troop deployment to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the Kentucky senator appealed to Trump’s past instincts against “regime change wars,” specifically citing Trump’s previous opposition to conflicts in Iraq and Libya.
“I fear that there are people around him who have ulterior motives and are pushing him towards war,” Paul said. “But I hope it won’t come to that.”
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Paul, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stressed that while he personally wants to see Maduro out of office, the power to initiate war lies solely with Congress. He dismissed the precedent set by previous administrations—listing conflicts from Korea to Libya initiated without a formal declaration—arguing that “ten wrongs don’t make a right.”
“I’m kind of old-fashioned; I kind of like to obey this thing called the Constitution,” Paul stated. “If he thinks he wants war with Venezuela, he should come and ask for permission from Congress the way it was intended.”
The interview took a darker turn when addressing recent military strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats off the Venezuelan coast. Paul expressed horror at reports that U.S. forces may have fired upon survivors clinging to wreckage, calling such actions a clear violation of military justice.
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To illustrate his point, Paul drew a graphic comparison. He argued that no commander would “sidle up in a boat” and execute a survivor with a 9mm pistol, yet striking them with missiles from miles away achieves the same grim result.
“If we blow up a boat and there are survivors, we don’t shoot those people,” Paul said, noting that even pilots shot down in combat are protected once they eject. He questioned the intelligence behind the strikes, citing Coast Guard data that suggests one in four boarded boats carries no drugs at all.
“To make a crime into war is to stretch credulity,” Paul added. “I think a lot of common-sense people don’t buy it.”
The Senator finished by calling for the release of classified video footage regarding a September 2nd strike, suggesting that if the public saw images of people “clinging to the wreckage,” support for such operations would vanish.
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