This image was removed due to legal reasons. In a touching nod to the presidents who came before him, President Donald Trump was reportedly obsessed with launching his own invasion of a Latin American country. Advertisement Unsurprisingly, the country is Venezuela—or, as it’s known to anyone who thinks single-payer healthcare is Stalinist, Whataboutvenezuela. Last August, Trump caused a stir by saying that he wouldn’t rule out a “military option” in the country, where there’s been significant political unrest during the government of Nicolás Maduro, and where the effects of an oil crisis have been exacerbated by the effect of sanctions by the U.S. In May, Maduro was controversially re-elected to a six-year term. (The opposition candidate who eventually finished as the runner-up was reportedly threatened with sanctions by the U.S. for running.) It’s worth noting the history here: in 2002, Venezuela’s previous leader Hugo Chávez survived a coup, which was allegedly linked to the Bush administration, whose officials met with opposition leaders in the months leading up to the attempt. Chávez, who died of cancer in 2013, also repeatedly suggested that the U.S. was trying to assassinate him. The “military option” comment was mostly waved off by the White House and the press as Trump being Trump. But the AP reports now that Trump was, in fact, very serious about this. Emphasis mine: In an exchange that lasted around five minutes, McMaster and others took turns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risk losing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punish President Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path of dictatorship, according to the official. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions. But Trump pushed back. Although he gave no indication he was about to order up military plans, he pointed to what he considered past cases of successful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, like the invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s. The idea, despite his aides’ best attempts to shoot it down, would nonetheless persist in the president’s head.﻿ Remember: just last week, Mike Pence demanded in Brazil that countries in Central and South America “respect” America’s borders and sovereignty. But wait, there’s more: Then in September, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump discussed it again, this time at greater length, in a private dinner with leaders from four Latin American allies that included Santos, the same three people said and Politico reported in February. The U.S. official said Trump was specifically briefed not to raise the issue and told it wouldn’t play well, but the first thing the president said at the dinner was, “My staff told me not to say this.” Trump then went around asking each leader if they were sure they didn’t want a military solution, according to the official, who added that each leader told Trump in clear terms they were sure. Eventually, McMaster would pull aside the president and walk him through the dangers of an invasion, the official said. Advertisement If it makes you feel any better, McMaster isn’t there anymore to talk him off the ledge. Instead, we have John fucking Bolton. Happy Fourth of July!<doc-sep>President Nicolas Maduro urged his armed forces Wednesday to be on guard following reports that nearly a year ago Donald Trump, the US president, raised the possibility of invading Venezuela. "You cannot lower you guard for even a second, because we will defend the greatest right our homeland has had in all of its history," Mr Maduro said at a military ceremony, "which is to live in peace." He alluded to reports in the press which said that, last August, Mr Trump asked foreign policy advisers about the possibility of invading Venezuela, which the Trump administration has derided as a corrupt, Left-wing dictatorship. Mr Trump raised the idea in August 2017 during a meeting about sanctions the United States has imposed on oil rich Venezuela, reports quoting a senior administration official said. Mr Trump's advisers said no, as did Latin American leaders with whom Trump also raised the idea. Bob Baer, a former CIA operative, said the idea of a coup in Venezuela had been "in the air for a couple of years" in intelligence circles, and he suspected the president had "got wind of it".<doc-sep>Donald Trump 'considered' invading Venezuela reveals expert top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. The US president, who has already threatened to deliver “fire and fury” to North Korea, asked senior advisors whether he should invade Venezuela. Venezuela has been hit by economic chaos in recent years resulting in civil unrest, starvation and the imposition of sanctions by foreign states. Mr Trump suggested during a meeting with advisors last year the US could go one step further and launch a military invasion of Venezuela. A source close to the conversation said the president was immediately shut down and urged in the strongest possible terms not to give the idea further consideration. US imposed economic sanctions on Venezuela after Maduro win And he said he believed Mr Trump was not seriously open to the idea but merely “thinking out loud”. The source added: “The president says and thinks a lot of different things. “There was no imminent plan for a military strike.” Donald Trump news: Venezuela has been plunged into chaos in recent months The source said America’s allies in South and Central America would react with firm opposition to any invasion of Venezuela with diplomatic responses the preferred tactic. Venezuela has this week reacted with fury to the leaked plot, with the president urging the armed forces to prepare for the worst. Nicolas Maduro said: “We need to defend our right for peace, dignity and for the right to choose our own destiny. Huge protests have taken place across Venezuela due to the ongoing economic crisis “No empire is going to choose for us. The military invasion from the US empire will never be a solution for Venezuela’s problems, never. “The greatest right our people have is the right to live in peace.” He said the Venezuelan army must not “lower their guard”.<doc-sep>US President Donald J. Trump delivers his first address to a joint session of Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC, USA, 28 February 2017. / AFP / EPA POOL / JIM LO SCALZO (Photo credit should read JIM LO SCALZO/AFP/Getty Images) TOPSHOT - A vendor picks up a 100 yuan note above a newspaper featuring a photo of US president-elect Donald Trump, at a news stand in Beijing on November 10, 2016. The world's second-largest economy is US president-elect Donald Trump's designated bogeyman, threatening it on the campaign trail with tariffs for stealing American jobs, but analysts say US protectionism could create opportunities for Beijing. / AFP / GREG BAKER (Photo credit should read GREG BAKER/AFP/Getty Images) US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2018. (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images) SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEBRUARY 08: Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on before speaking to members of the media during a visit to AppDirect on February 8, 2018 in San Francisco, California. Trudeau is visiting several cities in the U.S. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Trump: We are all to blame for Russia relations US President Donald Trump and Russia's President Vladimir Putin attend a joint press conference after a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, on July 16, 2018. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) President Donald Trump talks on the phone aboard Air Force One during a flight to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address a joint gathering of House and Senate Republicans, Thursday, January 26, 2017. This was the Presidentâs first Trip aboard Air Force One. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 30: (CHINA OUT, SOUTH KOREA OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari at the Rose Garden at the White House April 30, 2018 in Washington, DC. The two leaders also met in the Oval Office to discuss a range of bilateral issues earlier in the day. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images) (CNN) — President Donald Trump last August asked several top foreign policy advisers about the possibility of invading Venezuela during a meeting about diplomatic sanctions the US was enacting on the autocratic government, a senior administration official familiar with the comments said. Trump’s aides, including then-national security adviser HR McMaster, vigorously urged him against the notion of a military invasion of Venezuela, warning him it could backfire and explaining that US allies in the region were firmly opposed to such drastic action. Taking military action against Venezuela would be a dramatic escalation of the US’s so-far solely diplomatic and sanctions-focused response to the political and economic crisis roiling the South American country. Still, the official with knowledge of Trump’s private comments noted there was “no imminent plan for a military strike” and chalked the comments up to Trump thinking “out loud.” “The President says and thinks a lot of different things,” the official said. “He just thinks out loud.” Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro reacted to Trump’s comments on Wednesday, urging the country’s armed forces not to “lower their guard.” “We need to defend our right for peace, dignity and for the right to chose our own destiny,” Maduro said during a military ceremony in Caracas. “No empire is going to choose for us!” “A military invasion from the US empire will never be a solution for Venezuela’s problems, never,” he added. “The greatest right our people have is the right to live in peace.” Trump’s private comments to his advisers were first reported by the Associated Press. They came a day before he said publicly – standing alongside then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley – that he was not taking “a military option” against Venezuela off the table. Trump in the following month continued to press Latin American leaders about the possibility, including on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly when he dined with many of those leaders – all of whom said they did not want a US invasion of Venezuela. Venezuela has been a key focus of the Trump administration’s policy toward Latin America, with Trump taking numerous steps to ratchet up pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The administration has enacted numerous sanctions and issued strongly worded statements urging the Venezuelan government to allow free and fair elections to take place. Vice President Mike Pence has also met numerous times with Venezuelan opposition leaders and has issued stinging criticisms of the Venezuelan government during his recent trips to Latin America. Trump’s comments were not the first time he has raised the possibility of military action against another country. Before the cooling of tensions with North Korea in recent months, Trump deliberated with aides about the possibility of preventive strikes against the Pyongyang regime and in January sought to order the evacuation of US military dependents in South Korea – sounding alarms among the President’s top national security aides who worried North Korea might interpret the move as wartime preparations. Just as with his discussions of military action in Venezuela, Trump’s aides dissuaded him from taking such brash action. CNN’s Flora Charner and CNN en Español’s Daniel Silva Fernandez contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
Donald Trump repeatedly raised the possibility of invading Venezuela in talks with his top aides at the White House, according to a new report. Trump brought up the subject of an invasion in public in August last year, saying: “We have many options for Venezuela, including a possible military option, if necessary.” But the president’s musings about the possibility of a US invasion were more extensive and persistent than that public declaration, according to the Associated Press. The previous day Trump reportedly took his top officials by surprise in an Oval Office meeting, asking why the US could not intervene to remove the government of Nicolás Maduro on the grounds that Venezuela’s political and economic unraveling represented a threat to the region. Quoting an unnamed senior administration official, the AP report said the suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, which included the then national security adviser, HR McMaster, and secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Both have since left the administration. The administration officials are said to have taken turns in trying to talk him out of the idea, pointing out that any such military action would alienate Latin American allies who had supported the US policy of punitive sanctions on the Maduro regime. Their arguments do not seem to have dissuaded the president. A grim-faced Tillerson stood alongside Trump the next day at his New Jersey golf course at Bedminster as the president warmed to his theme. “We have many options for Venezuela, this is our neighbour,” Trump said. “We’re all over the world and we have troops all over the world in places that are very, very far away, Venezuela is not very far away and the people are suffering and dying. We have many options for Venezuela including a possible military option if necessary.” The White House announced later it had refused to take a call from Maduro. The Venezuelan defence minister, Vladimir Padrino, described Trump’s threat as an “act of craziness” and “supreme extremism”. In the weeks that followed, Trump remained preoccupied with the idea of an invasion, according to AP. Shortly after the Bedminister remarks, he raised the issue with the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, and then brought it up again at that year’s UN general assembly in September, at a private dinner with allied Latin American states. At that dinner, Trump made clear he was ignoring the advice of his aides. “My staff told me not to say this,” Trump said and then asked the other leaders at the table in turn, if they were sure they didn’t want a military solution. McMaster finally succeeding in persuading Trump of the dangers of an invasion, the report said, and the president’s interest in the notion subsided. Trump’s approach to military intervention has been erratic. He has been insistent on bringing troops back from Syria, and his administration is pushing to draw down troops in Europe. But Venezuela is not the only country he has threatened directly. Last year, he warned North Korea of impending “fire and fury” and total destruction if the country threatened the US with its nuclear weapons and missiles. After his summit with Kim Jong-un last month in Singapore, however, Trump presented military conflict as unthinkable, pointing out it would cost millions of lives.