In an exclusive phone conversation with MS NOW’s Joe Scarborough, President Donald Trump shed light on what could come next for Venezuela after the country was thrown into tumult by the U.S. military operation that ended with President Nicolás Maduro’s capture.
On “Morning Joe,” Scarborough shared details from his 20-minute call on Monday with the president, telling viewers that Trump was “very excited and proud” to share “insights on his decision to launch a military attack on Venezuela.”
Scarborough said that during the call, Trump praised the U.S. military’s “flawless execution of the operation,” as well as “the courage shown by those who raided Maduro’s fortress.” The MS NOW host said the president ended his summary of the attack by noting the “message” it would send to other adversaries, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Scarborough said he questioned Trump about what would come next. “Was there a timeline? Was there a plan for reconstruction, for elections, for democracy?” he asked.
While the “Morning Joe” co-host said Trump did not share any new details about how the U.S. would “run” Venezuela in the interim, he did share an answer the president gave after being pressed about comparisons between the military’s actions in Venezuela and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“Joe, the difference between Iraq and this is that [former President George W.] Bush didn’t keep the oil. We’re going to keep the oil,” Trump said, according to Scarborough.
Scarborough added: “‘In 2016, I said we should have kept the oil. It caused a lot of controversy. Well, we should have kept the oil,’ the president said. ‘And we’re going to rebuild their broken-down oil facilities, and this time we’re going to keep the oil.’”
He then told viewers that “saying the United States is entering a new era of geopolitical engagement seems to be an understatement.”








