January 3, 2026 • 22 mins
President Donald Trump said the US would run Venezuela until a transition could be organized, hours after a US operation captured leader Nicolás Maduro, ousting the strongman from power after months of mounting military and economic pressure on his regime.
“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said Saturday at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. “So we don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.”
Trump said the US administration of Venezuela would include deploying US oil companies to the country, though indicated that his embargo “on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect” and that US forces would stay on alert.
Bloomberg's Joe Mathieu and Christina Ruffini speak with:
- Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois)
- Justin Logan, director of defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute.
- Jeanne Sheehan Zaino, Democracy Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center and Bloomberg Politics Contributor & Lester Munson, Principal of the International Practice at BGR Group and Republican Strategist
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is a breaking news update from Bloomberg, instant.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Reaction and analysis from our three thousand journalists and analysts
around the world, live from mar A Lago on Bloomberg's
TV and radio answering a series of questions alongside the
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, Dan Cain. We learned a lot together over
the past half hour or so, and I want to
(00:33):
just unpack some of what we learned. If you're just
joining us, thank you for being here with a special
edition of Balance of Power on Bloomberg's TV and Radio,
streaming live on YouTube with breaking news on this Saturday,
the third of January. Mission Absolute Resolve, the name of
the operation that took place last evening in Venezuela. Dan
Cain describing months of work by Intel to find Nicholas Maduro,
(00:58):
who is now on his way to New York to
face charges. Months of work, he described, to understand where
he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were
his pets. The key, he said, was choosing the right
day to minimize civilian harm. He described one hundred and
fifty military aircraft involved, and indeed one of the helicopters
that was involved in this mission came under fire but
(01:20):
remained fliable. He said, all of our aircraft came home.
President Trump, referring to the transition here and a remarkable
headline that crossed the terminal a short time ago, quote,
we are going to run it, essentially, referring to the
country of Venezuela until such time as proper transition can
take place. He said as well, we are not afraid
(01:41):
of boots on the ground if we have to, and
we're going to make sure that this is proper. We're
there now and says for a period of time, it'll
be the people that are standing right behind me who
will be running the country, referring to Secretary of State
Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense, and others. We saw the
leaders of the CIA and FBI in the room as well,
(02:04):
at mar A Lago at my side today in Washington,
Christina at Ruffini, who has spent many years covering the
State Department in foreign policy. This is something we've never
quite seen, certainly from an America first president.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
As he calls himself, I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
No, and one of the questions was how is this
America first? And the President responded, America needs safe neighbors
and also we need energy, and that's our energy. And
one of the more remarkable moments was the one you
were just referencing where he said the US will be
running Venezuela until we can make sure that they're doing properly.
The other moment was when he was asked about Marie Richatda,
(02:38):
the novel laureate, and said he doesn't think she's up
to the job. He doesn't think it's going to be her.
He doesn't think she doesn't support of the people.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
That's really remarkable because there were questions about whether she
was in fact talking with him about next steps here.
I think it'd be very tough for her to be
the leader, he said. Quote she's a very nice woman,
but she doesn't have the respect to have the job,
having won the Nobel Peace Prize and referred to as
an opposition leader for a reason. Here, we want to
bring in a voice from Capitol Hill, and it's an
(03:07):
important one in Congressman Brad Schneider, the Democrat from Illinois,
is chair of the new Democrat Coalition. As we just
spent quite a period of time listening to the Republican administration. Congressman,
we'd like to hear from your side of the aisle
on this. Secretary Rubio says he did call members of
Congress immediately after these strikes took place.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Did you get a call?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Did any of your Democratic colleagues receive a briefing this morning?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I didn't.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I don't know of any of my colleges who have
gone briefing. I've seen statements from folks like Jim Himes,
who is the ranking member on Intelligence, Mark Warner, and
the Senate who've all said they had not heard anything.
And Joe, this is a critical moment for our country.
The president, well, when I go back, Christian Maduro, Maduro
is a bad actor who deserves to face justice. He's
(03:58):
stolen election in twenty twenty four and stawed himself as
president this time last year. He's been indicted by New
York or US Court in New York, And so I'm
not going to defend Maduro or mourn for his demise.
But the fact of the matter is that the president
needs to follow the Constitution, and it is only the
United States Congress who has the authority to declare war
(04:23):
has the authority to authorize military force. The president can
take action if there is an imminent threat.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
The President needs.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
To show Congress and the American people what was that threat,
what is the legal justification? And critically, especially as you said,
is he's now saying the US is going to run Venezuela.
How is the United States going to guarantee or ensure
that Venezuela doesn't become a failed state and a threat
to its neighbors in the United States as a whole.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Well, you're on intel and foreign affairs, Congressman. We heard
from John Thune and Mike Johnson earlier today that there
would be briefings planned for early next week. Is that
your understanding. I suspect you'd be the first to be
in the room.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Right.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Yeah, I'm not on Intel, I'm on ways and means
in foreign affairs. But we do need to have briefings.
The administration needs to come to Congress as soon as
we get back and brief us in a classified format,
laying out its justification for the attack, laying out its
legal authority for taking this attack. And quite honestly, I
don't think the American people wants this administration running another country.
(05:23):
They're already having enough trouble running this country.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Congressman, what about that? That was one of the more
startling revelations of that press conference when President Trump said, well,
who's going to be running Venezuela and he kind of
gestured to the people behind him, and then more follow
ups from the press. What is the mechanism for this?
How long he basically said. At one point he said,
you know, it could take about a year, and then
he said, but it takes a very long time to
(05:47):
get the oil. And then he said, not only would
the US be using that oil to pay for I'm
assuming it's administration of Venezuela, but would also be reimbursing
its health for damages. Donald Trump Sayszezuela has inflicted on
the United States.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Well, for Trumpet, it's always about the money. It's always
about enriching himself. So that's a concern. This administration hasn't
earned the benefit of the doubt from the American people
to know that it's putting American interests first and not
the interests of folks like Trump and his family and friends.
That said, we need to understand what are the steps
to ensure that Venezuela doesn't descend into a state of
(06:24):
chaos and threatened the entire region. It's ironic that thirty
five years ago today Noriega, President Noriega of Panama, surrendered
to US forces.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
The US invaded Panama on.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
December twentieth of nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Noriega was arrested.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
The difference was on December twentieth, the day of that invasion,
the United States put in place a new president from Panama.
The Panamanian people governed themselves, and so we need to
understand why that isn't happening here.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And as you noted earlier that the.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
President has said he doesn't have confidence in the opposition leader,
she has broad trust of the Venezuelan people.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
We need to make sure that we have a government.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Of Venezuelans for Venezuelans, protecting their interests, in ensuring a
strong relationship with the regent.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Saw your statement on Twitter earlier, Congressman, you write, Maduro
is a bad guy who deserves to be brought to justice,
but that does not mean President Trump has blanket authority
to send the US military into a foreign land without
authorization by Congress. There have been multiple attempts by Democrats.
We spoke recently with Congressman Jim McGovern about his effort
(07:34):
to get a War Powers Act on the floor of
the House. You don't see that going anywhere with a
Republican majority, do you not?
Speaker 4 (07:41):
With this majority who have lost their sense of responsibility.
The founders established with the Constitution three co equal branches
of government, and they rightly put the authority to declare war,
to take the United States into foreign conflicts, to put
US troops.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
In harm's way. Put that with the Congress.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
It is the Congress that faces the voters every two years.
Is the Congress today four hundred and thirty five representatives
who reflect the interest and the values of the American
people as a whole, And it is Congress who has
the ability to respond and react. We need to make
sure that Congressional authority is protected. We need to take
back that authority that this administration is. You served not
(08:22):
just on war powers, but we've seen on tariffs in
so many other areas. We need to stand up to
this administration and say Congress is a coequal branch, not
a subordinate branch.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Congressman, do you have any inclination or any hints from
your colleagues across the aisle that this may be a
step too far. Have you heard any rumblings or whispers.
I know it's very early that not all members of
the party may be behind these actions. In the days
and weeks to come, that you could see some defections
from across the aisle.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
I would be surprised if there weren't some. I know
a lot of my Republican friends. They believe in the Constitution.
They ran for Congress to make a difference in the
lives of the people they represent, but also to respect
the idea that we are a collequal branch of the
federal government. And so I would be surprised if you
don't hear a broad outcry the administration. If it is
(09:11):
able to present legal justification, is if it is egal,
If it is able to present a strategy that lays
out their vision for transferring power quickly and restoring the
government of Venezuela to the people of Venezuela, maybe that
will temperate. But what we heard today in the president's
press conference, he intends to take the oil for his
own benefit. He intends to put his own friends in charge,
(09:33):
and he intends to let the United States run another country,
something that we haven't done in a very long time.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Congress and Brodchenier, thank you so much for joining us.
We appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
As we continue our special coverage from Washington, the President
is posting more on social media, Truth Social with a
new video up of the strikes with a soundtrack Fortunate
Sun by Credence Clearwater Revival. As you watch these strikes
take place, the explosions on the horizon. It was a
(10:10):
video taken from what appears to be a balcony in
an apartment building, remembering, of course that that.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Was an anti war anthem from Vietnam.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
But it calls into question the optics coming from this administration,
of course, a self declared America first president, and whether
this justification that the President has delivered will be accepted
by the Magabas and others who support President Trump. It's
part of the conversation we want to have with Justin Logan,
who's director of Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the
(10:41):
Cato Institute. Justin, thanks for being with us here on
Bloomberg TV and Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
What are your thoughts this morning?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Just to begin with this afternoon, I should say, at
this point, now with the strikes behind us, but a
massive American armadas still off the coast of Venezuela, is
this over from a military standpoint?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
Is something you're never supposed to say on TV, but
it happens to be the truth.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I love that answer. To me.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
The takeaway here is that the President didn't say we're
going to be running Venezuela in an offhand response to
a question. It was clearly in his prepared remarks. So
that is surprising to me. I mean, I think the
President knows that the American people are not ready for
a large nation building campaign inside Venezuela.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
But to use the words that he used, We're.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Going to quote run the country as long as we
can until a safe, proper and judicious transition can take place.
And then he talked about that would establish peace, liberty,
and justice for the Venezuelan people. That's a very heavy
lift for the United States. And then at the end
of of the conversation at the press conference, rather he
(11:50):
remarked that the prime candidate for taking over the country
with a vision of peace, liberty, and justice, Maria Cornamachillo,
was not in the cards he sort of said that
she doesn't have the confidence of the Venezuelan.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
People and that it would be very tough for her.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
So we're missing huge pieces of the story if in fact,
the Americans are going to be running Venezuela.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And that was really startling, especially given how much effort
she's put into curating that relationship with President Trump, making
sure you say supportive things of him in almost every
interview she's had, being supportive of his strikes on these
drug boats or fishing boats or whatever they tend to be.
I also want to ask you, justin your latest op
ed was entitled mister President, don't do it. Obviously he
(12:36):
missed that memo, but I've got an excerpt from it here,
you say the administration's public case for its Venezuela policy
is insultingly ridiculous. At an October fifteenth press conference, the
President declared that every boat we knock out, we saved
twenty five thousand American lives. Considering that they were only
around eighty four thousand overdoses in the United States last year,
and that they have so far blown up ten boats,
(12:57):
they should have declared victory and come home and votes ago.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean trying to pin down the case for this.
And I'm old enough to have been around during the
Iraq war run up, right, there was a sort of
more linear story told then than there has been told now.
The President started this campaign against Venezuela by talking about
fentanyl coming out of Venezuela. Someone apparently let him know
that fentanyl doesn't come out of Venezuela. And now you
(13:22):
heard in the press conference today he was referencing three
hundred thousand overdoses, when in fact, there are now less
than eighty thousand overdoses total in the United States each year,
most of which are due to fentanyl. There is some
cocaine that comes to the United States via Venezuela, but
that accounts for a relatively small number of those overdose deaths.
(13:43):
So at times this is about the sort of indictment
of Nicolas Maduro and his wife in the United States.
And you heard this weird fusion of the Defense Department
allegedly responding to a Department of Justice request to suppress
Venezuelan air defenses and to embed law enforcement officers in
(14:04):
sort of delta force raids. So there's this weird blurring
together both of rationales that this is about law enforcement somehow,
but it's also about, as Pete Hegseth said, the safety, security, freedom,
and prosperity of the American people.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
The American people have not been.
Speaker 6 (14:20):
Crying out for regime change in Venezuela outside of maybe
pockets in South Florida, if you will. So this trying
to pin down exactly what the ends, ways, and means
of this campaign are has been, you know, even for
somebody who's been in this business for a while, a
pretty heavy lift.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Last question for you, justin we've only got about a minute.
I want to get back to where we began, and
that's the justification for this military action. The President said, quote,
we built Venezuela's oil industry with American talent, drive, and skill,
and the socialist regime stole it from us. Well, the
American electorate appreciate that point.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah, I mean it's a pretty icy thing to say.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
You know, we went into this country with our military
and deposed its leader to protect and you heard Marco
Rubio talking about not you know, American assets, but the
assets of American oil companies.
Speaker 5 (15:13):
Right, are you going to go out and campaign for
office in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
If you're running for the presidency by saying we, you know,
went in Venezuela and to protect oil company's revenue streams, right,
that just strikes me as a weird political pitch in
an era where Americans are asking for more help at home,
for more focus at home, and I think there's a
real exhaustion with the overall amount of foreign policy activity
(15:37):
this administration has had thus far as compared with domestic policy.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
With his view from the Cato Institute, justin Logan, we
thank you very much for your insights. Before we get
some final thoughts from our political panel, we want to
get the latest right now from our newsroom. In a
day that has brought many developments to this story, let's
turn out to Nathan Hager.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Nathan, what do you have? Well, you said it, Joe,
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
President Trump says the US as a same actually running Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Now.
Speaker 7 (16:01):
After an overnight round of airstrikes at a special forces
operation that ended with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicholas
Madua and First Lady Cilia Flores, they are now on
their way to New York, where they will face charges
of narco terrorism, conspiracy, and drug trafficking. Here is what
President Trump had to say at a mar Lago news conference.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
We're going to run the country until such time as
we can do a safe, proper.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And judicious transition.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
So we don't want to be involved with having somebody
else get in.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
And we have the same situation that we had for
the last long period of years. So we are going
to run the country.
Speaker 7 (16:42):
And the President says the US stands ready to carry
out a second strike. It's not afraid to deploy troops
in Venezuela if needed. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Karina Machado
posted on x that the oppositions ready to quote honor
their mandate and assume power, but President Trump says Machado
does not have the respect or sot to lead the country.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I'm Nathan Hager in Washington. Joe and Christina back to you.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
All right, Nathan, thank you so much for all of
your contributions. Today, we're live in Washington on a special
edition of Balance of Power here on Bloomberg TV and Radio.
As we reassemble our political panel, Bloomberg Politics contributor Genie
Shanzino is with us, our democratic analyst and Democracy visiting
fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center, alongside Republican strategist
Lester Munson from the International Practice at BGR Group.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
All right, let's hear from both of you.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Now that the President has spoken, GENNI, did he make
the case for this military action?
Speaker 8 (17:37):
I think he opened a lot more questions than he answered.
The idea that Marco Rubio, who already has something to
three to four jobs by any count is going to
be joining this team and running Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I don't think many.
Speaker 8 (17:49):
Of us expected it, and how that is going to happen,
for what length, who is going to do it. He's
opened to boots on the ground. All of this is
just an astonishing development. So I think a lot more
questions here as in regards to what the President said
than answers.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Lester, I have a slightly less sophisticated question for you.
In a press conference that had a lot of staggering,
memorable moments, one that stood out to me was actually
Marco Rubio because while even President Trump, of course, he
strayed from his prepared remarks, the Admiral Haig Seth, we're
all reading from prepared remarks. We saw Rubio do something
(18:26):
we don't usually see from him. Where he got up
and very casually said, I don't have much else to add,
but he said, you know, Maduo wanted to play the
big guy, and he spoke off the cuff. He spoke
in a very regular manner, and he spoke a little
bit more like we usually hear Donald Trump do. And
I'm wondering, given all the talk about you know, advance Rubio,
(18:48):
Rubio dvance ticket, if he is jostling a little bit
to be air apparent and if that's what was going
on here.
Speaker 9 (18:55):
Yeah, boy, you could you could read a lot into that.
I think it's a great question. I think the Secretary
of State did a good job. He looked very comfortable.
He was being very politically smart. He wasn't really.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
Taking ownership of this issue.
Speaker 9 (19:09):
He was letting the president President Trump go out there
and make the case to kind of the magabase. Hey,
this matters to you. Trump talked about the young victim
of trend Arragua in Texas and said this is you know,
this matters for our people, and Rubio was happy to
kind of step aside and let him do that. I
(19:29):
think we all sense that Rubio has been playing a
huge role in this policy making leading up to this
in this moment and is clearly going to play a
big role in the future. So very interesting positioning by him.
But I think he did a very good job.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Well, just to extend that a little bit, Genie, this
did seem to be a family operation here. If you
could see the cutaway shot in the room, the whole
team was with the president, either behind the podium or
off to the side. Hag Seth Cain, Rubio, but also
Steven Miller was there, Ratcliffe's CIA. Did you notice cash
but Tell of the FBI was off to the side
(20:05):
next to Steve Whitkoff. Where they all should we assume?
Were they all involved in this process? And will they
all somehow together run Venezuela?
Speaker 8 (20:15):
That's what we were told. I mean, it was quite
a stunning display. I thought it was smart that jd. Vance,
at least as far as I could see from my perch,
was not there because politically, if this thing goes a foul,
it would hurt him and running for twenty eight So
that was interesting. But I do think there is absolutely
no distance between Donald Trump and the people in his cabinet,
(20:35):
and that's by design. And one really interesting thing I
saw I thought Rubio had to say was the fact
that there are instances in which the administration does not
need to inform Congress about a military activity if it
is a law enforcement activity. This is news, I think
to many of us in the legal community. Will be
interesting to see what Congress and the courts have to
(20:58):
say about that.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
And Lester, we talked earlier about how this is allegedly
nominally the non interventionist wing of the Republican Party, and
we were wondering how this was going to get sold
to Trump's supporters. The President was asked that question directly,
how is this America first? And he said it's in
America's interest to have good neighbors. And the oil, he
said energy, Having energy is in America's best interest. What
(21:23):
are your takes on that? And do you think Trump
voters are going to buy that?
Speaker 9 (21:27):
Yeah, this is classic kind of Jacksonian approach which to
foreign policy, which is is the US getting something out
of this? And I think President Trump believes if he
goes out and makes the case we're getting the oil,
We're going to manage the oil. This belonged to us,
We're taking it back that's going to resonate with that magabase,
and there's a lot of evidence that that may be true.
(21:50):
And I think he's he's clearly was using this hour
or so to shape that argument with his base. There's
been some criticism of this, you know, you think of
someone like Tucker Carlson, who's been openly critical of some
of the decisions the administration has made. This is a
real attempt by the President to go straight at that argument.
I think it's I think it's going to be relatively effective.
(22:12):
At the end of the day, the person the Magabase
trusts the most is Donald Trump. He knows that, and
as long as he never turns his back on them,
they're going to be with him.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Fascinating conversation with the help of Lester Munson and Jeanie Shanzano.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Many thanks to both of you.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
We're going to need your help next week as we
unpack all of what we have learned here today.
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is a breaking news update from Bloomberg, instant.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Reaction and analysis from our three thousand journalists and analysts
around the world, live from mar A Lago on Bloomberg's
TV and radio answering a series of questions alongside the
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, Dan Cain. We learned a lot together over
the past half hour or so, and I want to
(00:33):
just unpack some of what we learned. If you're just
joining us, thank you for being here with a special
edition of Balance of Power on Bloomberg's TV and Radio,
streaming live on YouTube with breaking news on this Saturday,
the third of January. Mission Absolute Resolve, the name of
the operation that took place last evening in Venezuela. Dan
Cain describing months of work by Intel to find Nicholas Maduro,
(00:58):
who is now on his way to New York to
face charges. Months of work, he described, to understand where
he traveled, what he ate, what he wore, what were
his pets. The key, he said, was choosing the right
day to minimize civilian harm. He described one hundred and
fifty military aircraft involved, and indeed one of the helicopters
that was involved in this mission came under fire but
(01:20):
remained fliable. He said, all of our aircraft came home.
President Trump, referring to the transition here and a remarkable
headline that crossed the terminal a short time ago, quote,
we are going to run it, essentially, referring to the
country of Venezuela until such time as proper transition can
take place. He said as well, we are not afraid
(01:41):
of boots on the ground if we have to, and
we're going to make sure that this is proper. We're
there now and says for a period of time, it'll
be the people that are standing right behind me who
will be running the country, referring to Secretary of State
Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense, and others. We saw the
leaders of the CIA and FBI in the room as well,
(02:04):
at mar A Lago at my side today in Washington,
Christina at Ruffini, who has spent many years covering the
State Department in foreign policy. This is something we've never
quite seen, certainly from an America first president.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
As he calls himself, I mean.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
No, and one of the questions was how is this
America first? And the President responded, America needs safe neighbors
and also we need energy, and that's our energy. And
one of the more remarkable moments was the one you
were just referencing where he said the US will be
running Venezuela until we can make sure that they're doing properly.
The other moment was when he was asked about Marie Richatda,
(02:38):
the novel laureate, and said he doesn't think she's up
to the job. He doesn't think it's going to be her.
He doesn't think she doesn't support of the people.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
That's really remarkable because there were questions about whether she
was in fact talking with him about next steps here.
I think it'd be very tough for her to be
the leader, he said. Quote she's a very nice woman,
but she doesn't have the respect to have the job,
having won the Nobel Peace Prize and referred to as
an opposition leader for a reason. Here, we want to
bring in a voice from Capitol Hill, and it's an
(03:07):
important one in Congressman Brad Schneider, the Democrat from Illinois,
is chair of the new Democrat Coalition. As we just
spent quite a period of time listening to the Republican administration. Congressman,
we'd like to hear from your side of the aisle
on this. Secretary Rubio says he did call members of
Congress immediately after these strikes took place.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Did you get a call?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Did any of your Democratic colleagues receive a briefing this morning?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
I didn't.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I don't know of any of my colleges who have
gone briefing. I've seen statements from folks like Jim Himes,
who is the ranking member on Intelligence, Mark Warner, and
the Senate who've all said they had not heard anything.
And Joe, this is a critical moment for our country.
The president, well, when I go back, Christian Maduro, Maduro
is a bad actor who deserves to face justice. He's
(03:58):
stolen election in twenty twenty four and stawed himself as
president this time last year. He's been indicted by New
York or US Court in New York, And so I'm
not going to defend Maduro or mourn for his demise.
But the fact of the matter is that the president
needs to follow the Constitution, and it is only the
United States Congress who has the authority to declare war
(04:23):
has the authority to authorize military force. The president can
take action if there is an imminent threat.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
The President needs.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
To show Congress and the American people what was that threat,
what is the legal justification? And critically, especially as you said,
is he's now saying the US is going to run Venezuela.
How is the United States going to guarantee or ensure
that Venezuela doesn't become a failed state and a threat
to its neighbors in the United States as a whole.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Well, you're on intel and foreign affairs, Congressman. We heard
from John Thune and Mike Johnson earlier today that there
would be briefings planned for early next week. Is that
your understanding. I suspect you'd be the first to be
in the room.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
Right.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
Yeah, I'm not on Intel, I'm on ways and means
in foreign affairs. But we do need to have briefings.
The administration needs to come to Congress as soon as
we get back and brief us in a classified format,
laying out its justification for the attack, laying out its
legal authority for taking this attack. And quite honestly, I
don't think the American people wants this administration running another country.
(05:23):
They're already having enough trouble running this country.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Congressman, what about that? That was one of the more
startling revelations of that press conference when President Trump said, well,
who's going to be running Venezuela and he kind of
gestured to the people behind him, and then more follow
ups from the press. What is the mechanism for this?
How long he basically said. At one point he said,
you know, it could take about a year, and then
he said, but it takes a very long time to
(05:47):
get the oil. And then he said, not only would
the US be using that oil to pay for I'm
assuming it's administration of Venezuela, but would also be reimbursing
its health for damages. Donald Trump Sayszezuela has inflicted on
the United States.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
Well, for Trumpet, it's always about the money. It's always
about enriching himself. So that's a concern. This administration hasn't
earned the benefit of the doubt from the American people
to know that it's putting American interests first and not
the interests of folks like Trump and his family and friends.
That said, we need to understand what are the steps
to ensure that Venezuela doesn't descend into a state of
(06:24):
chaos and threatened the entire region. It's ironic that thirty
five years ago today Noriega, President Noriega of Panama, surrendered
to US forces.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
The US invaded Panama on.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
December twentieth of nineteen eighty nine.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Noriega was arrested.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
The difference was on December twentieth, the day of that invasion,
the United States put in place a new president from Panama.
The Panamanian people governed themselves, and so we need to
understand why that isn't happening here.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
And as you noted earlier that the.
Speaker 4 (06:56):
President has said he doesn't have confidence in the opposition leader,
she has broad trust of the Venezuelan people.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
We need to make sure that we have a government.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Of Venezuelans for Venezuelans, protecting their interests, in ensuring a
strong relationship with the regent.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Saw your statement on Twitter earlier, Congressman, you write, Maduro
is a bad guy who deserves to be brought to justice,
but that does not mean President Trump has blanket authority
to send the US military into a foreign land without
authorization by Congress. There have been multiple attempts by Democrats.
We spoke recently with Congressman Jim McGovern about his effort
(07:34):
to get a War Powers Act on the floor of
the House. You don't see that going anywhere with a
Republican majority, do you not?
Speaker 4 (07:41):
With this majority who have lost their sense of responsibility.
The founders established with the Constitution three co equal branches
of government, and they rightly put the authority to declare war,
to take the United States into foreign conflicts, to put
US troops.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
In harm's way. Put that with the Congress.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
It is the Congress that faces the voters every two years.
Is the Congress today four hundred and thirty five representatives
who reflect the interest and the values of the American
people as a whole, And it is Congress who has
the ability to respond and react. We need to make
sure that Congressional authority is protected. We need to take
back that authority that this administration is. You served not
(08:22):
just on war powers, but we've seen on tariffs in
so many other areas. We need to stand up to
this administration and say Congress is a coequal branch, not
a subordinate branch.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Congressman, do you have any inclination or any hints from
your colleagues across the aisle that this may be a
step too far. Have you heard any rumblings or whispers.
I know it's very early that not all members of
the party may be behind these actions. In the days
and weeks to come, that you could see some defections
from across the aisle.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
I would be surprised if there weren't some. I know
a lot of my Republican friends. They believe in the Constitution.
They ran for Congress to make a difference in the
lives of the people they represent, but also to respect
the idea that we are a collequal branch of the
federal government. And so I would be surprised if you
don't hear a broad outcry the administration. If it is
(09:11):
able to present legal justification, is if it is egal,
If it is able to present a strategy that lays
out their vision for transferring power quickly and restoring the
government of Venezuela to the people of Venezuela, maybe that
will temperate. But what we heard today in the president's
press conference, he intends to take the oil for his
own benefit. He intends to put his own friends in charge,
(09:33):
and he intends to let the United States run another country,
something that we haven't done in a very long time.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Congress and Brodchenier, thank you so much for joining us.
We appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
As we continue our special coverage from Washington, the President
is posting more on social media, Truth Social with a
new video up of the strikes with a soundtrack Fortunate
Sun by Credence Clearwater Revival. As you watch these strikes
take place, the explosions on the horizon. It was a
(10:10):
video taken from what appears to be a balcony in
an apartment building, remembering, of course that that.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Was an anti war anthem from Vietnam.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
But it calls into question the optics coming from this administration,
of course, a self declared America first president, and whether
this justification that the President has delivered will be accepted
by the Magabas and others who support President Trump. It's
part of the conversation we want to have with Justin Logan,
who's director of Defense and Foreign Policy Studies at the
(10:41):
Cato Institute. Justin, thanks for being with us here on
Bloomberg TV and Radio.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
What are your thoughts this morning?
Speaker 3 (10:48):
Just to begin with this afternoon, I should say, at
this point, now with the strikes behind us, but a
massive American armadas still off the coast of Venezuela, is
this over from a military standpoint?
Speaker 5 (11:00):
I don't know.
Speaker 6 (11:01):
Is something you're never supposed to say on TV, but
it happens to be the truth.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I love that answer. To me.
Speaker 6 (11:06):
The takeaway here is that the President didn't say we're
going to be running Venezuela in an offhand response to
a question. It was clearly in his prepared remarks. So
that is surprising to me. I mean, I think the
President knows that the American people are not ready for
a large nation building campaign inside Venezuela.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
But to use the words that he used, We're.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
Going to quote run the country as long as we
can until a safe, proper and judicious transition can take place.
And then he talked about that would establish peace, liberty,
and justice for the Venezuelan people. That's a very heavy
lift for the United States. And then at the end
of of the conversation at the press conference, rather he
(11:50):
remarked that the prime candidate for taking over the country
with a vision of peace, liberty, and justice, Maria Cornamachillo,
was not in the cards he sort of said that
she doesn't have the confidence of the Venezuelan.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
People and that it would be very tough for her.
Speaker 6 (12:06):
So we're missing huge pieces of the story if in fact,
the Americans are going to be running Venezuela.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
And that was really startling, especially given how much effort
she's put into curating that relationship with President Trump, making
sure you say supportive things of him in almost every
interview she's had, being supportive of his strikes on these
drug boats or fishing boats or whatever they tend to be.
I also want to ask you, justin your latest op
ed was entitled mister President, don't do it. Obviously he
(12:36):
missed that memo, but I've got an excerpt from it here,
you say the administration's public case for its Venezuela policy
is insultingly ridiculous. At an October fifteenth press conference, the
President declared that every boat we knock out, we saved
twenty five thousand American lives. Considering that they were only
around eighty four thousand overdoses in the United States last year,
and that they have so far blown up ten boats,
(12:57):
they should have declared victory and come home and votes ago.
Speaker 6 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean trying to pin down the case for this.
And I'm old enough to have been around during the
Iraq war run up, right, there was a sort of
more linear story told then than there has been told now.
The President started this campaign against Venezuela by talking about
fentanyl coming out of Venezuela. Someone apparently let him know
that fentanyl doesn't come out of Venezuela. And now you
(13:22):
heard in the press conference today he was referencing three
hundred thousand overdoses, when in fact, there are now less
than eighty thousand overdoses total in the United States each year,
most of which are due to fentanyl. There is some
cocaine that comes to the United States via Venezuela, but
that accounts for a relatively small number of those overdose deaths.
(13:43):
So at times this is about the sort of indictment
of Nicolas Maduro and his wife in the United States.
And you heard this weird fusion of the Defense Department
allegedly responding to a Department of Justice request to suppress
Venezuelan air defenses and to embed law enforcement officers in
(14:04):
sort of delta force raids. So there's this weird blurring
together both of rationales that this is about law enforcement somehow,
but it's also about, as Pete Hegseth said, the safety, security, freedom,
and prosperity of the American people.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
The American people have not been.
Speaker 6 (14:20):
Crying out for regime change in Venezuela outside of maybe
pockets in South Florida, if you will. So this trying
to pin down exactly what the ends, ways, and means
of this campaign are has been, you know, even for
somebody who's been in this business for a while, a
pretty heavy lift.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Last question for you, justin we've only got about a minute.
I want to get back to where we began, and
that's the justification for this military action. The President said, quote,
we built Venezuela's oil industry with American talent, drive, and skill,
and the socialist regime stole it from us. Well, the
American electorate appreciate that point.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah, I mean it's a pretty icy thing to say.
Speaker 6 (15:01):
You know, we went into this country with our military
and deposed its leader to protect and you heard Marco
Rubio talking about not you know, American assets, but the
assets of American oil companies.
Speaker 5 (15:13):
Right, are you going to go out and campaign for
office in twenty twenty eight.
Speaker 6 (15:16):
If you're running for the presidency by saying we, you know,
went in Venezuela and to protect oil company's revenue streams, right,
that just strikes me as a weird political pitch in
an era where Americans are asking for more help at home,
for more focus at home, and I think there's a
real exhaustion with the overall amount of foreign policy activity
(15:37):
this administration has had thus far as compared with domestic policy.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
With his view from the Cato Institute, justin Logan, we
thank you very much for your insights. Before we get
some final thoughts from our political panel, we want to
get the latest right now from our newsroom. In a
day that has brought many developments to this story, let's
turn out to Nathan Hager.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Nathan, what do you have? Well, you said it, Joe,
Thank you.
Speaker 7 (15:58):
President Trump says the US as a same actually running Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Now.
Speaker 7 (16:01):
After an overnight round of airstrikes at a special forces
operation that ended with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicholas
Madua and First Lady Cilia Flores, they are now on
their way to New York, where they will face charges
of narco terrorism, conspiracy, and drug trafficking. Here is what
President Trump had to say at a mar Lago news conference.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
We're going to run the country until such time as
we can do a safe, proper.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And judicious transition.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
So we don't want to be involved with having somebody
else get in.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
And we have the same situation that we had for
the last long period of years. So we are going
to run the country.
Speaker 7 (16:42):
And the President says the US stands ready to carry
out a second strike. It's not afraid to deploy troops
in Venezuela if needed. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Karina Machado
posted on x that the oppositions ready to quote honor
their mandate and assume power, but President Trump says Machado
does not have the respect or sot to lead the country.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
I'm Nathan Hager in Washington. Joe and Christina back to you.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
All right, Nathan, thank you so much for all of
your contributions. Today, we're live in Washington on a special
edition of Balance of Power here on Bloomberg TV and Radio.
As we reassemble our political panel, Bloomberg Politics contributor Genie
Shanzino is with us, our democratic analyst and Democracy visiting
fellow at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Center, alongside Republican strategist
Lester Munson from the International Practice at BGR Group.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
All right, let's hear from both of you.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Now that the President has spoken, GENNI, did he make
the case for this military action?
Speaker 8 (17:37):
I think he opened a lot more questions than he answered.
The idea that Marco Rubio, who already has something to
three to four jobs by any count is going to
be joining this team and running Venezuela.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I don't think many.
Speaker 8 (17:49):
Of us expected it, and how that is going to happen,
for what length, who is going to do it. He's
opened to boots on the ground. All of this is
just an astonishing development. So I think a lot more
questions here as in regards to what the President said
than answers.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Lester, I have a slightly less sophisticated question for you.
In a press conference that had a lot of staggering,
memorable moments, one that stood out to me was actually
Marco Rubio because while even President Trump, of course, he
strayed from his prepared remarks, the Admiral Haig Seth, we're
all reading from prepared remarks. We saw Rubio do something
(18:26):
we don't usually see from him. Where he got up
and very casually said, I don't have much else to add,
but he said, you know, Maduo wanted to play the
big guy, and he spoke off the cuff. He spoke
in a very regular manner, and he spoke a little
bit more like we usually hear Donald Trump do. And
I'm wondering, given all the talk about you know, advance Rubio,
(18:48):
Rubio dvance ticket, if he is jostling a little bit
to be air apparent and if that's what was going
on here.
Speaker 9 (18:55):
Yeah, boy, you could you could read a lot into that.
I think it's a great question. I think the Secretary
of State did a good job. He looked very comfortable.
He was being very politically smart. He wasn't really.
Speaker 5 (19:06):
Taking ownership of this issue.
Speaker 9 (19:09):
He was letting the president President Trump go out there
and make the case to kind of the magabase. Hey,
this matters to you. Trump talked about the young victim
of trend Arragua in Texas and said this is you know,
this matters for our people, and Rubio was happy to
kind of step aside and let him do that. I
(19:29):
think we all sense that Rubio has been playing a
huge role in this policy making leading up to this
in this moment and is clearly going to play a
big role in the future. So very interesting positioning by him.
But I think he did a very good job.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
Well, just to extend that a little bit, Genie, this
did seem to be a family operation here. If you
could see the cutaway shot in the room, the whole
team was with the president, either behind the podium or
off to the side. Hag Seth Cain, Rubio, but also
Steven Miller was there, Ratcliffe's CIA. Did you notice cash
but Tell of the FBI was off to the side
(20:05):
next to Steve Whitkoff. Where they all should we assume?
Were they all involved in this process? And will they
all somehow together run Venezuela?
Speaker 8 (20:15):
That's what we were told. I mean, it was quite
a stunning display. I thought it was smart that jd. Vance,
at least as far as I could see from my perch,
was not there because politically, if this thing goes a foul,
it would hurt him and running for twenty eight So
that was interesting. But I do think there is absolutely
no distance between Donald Trump and the people in his cabinet,
(20:35):
and that's by design. And one really interesting thing I
saw I thought Rubio had to say was the fact
that there are instances in which the administration does not
need to inform Congress about a military activity if it
is a law enforcement activity. This is news, I think
to many of us in the legal community. Will be
interesting to see what Congress and the courts have to
(20:58):
say about that.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
And Lester, we talked earlier about how this is allegedly
nominally the non interventionist wing of the Republican Party, and
we were wondering how this was going to get sold
to Trump's supporters. The President was asked that question directly,
how is this America first? And he said it's in
America's interest to have good neighbors. And the oil, he
said energy, Having energy is in America's best interest. What
(21:23):
are your takes on that? And do you think Trump
voters are going to buy that?
Speaker 9 (21:27):
Yeah, this is classic kind of Jacksonian approach which to
foreign policy, which is is the US getting something out
of this? And I think President Trump believes if he
goes out and makes the case we're getting the oil,
We're going to manage the oil. This belonged to us,
We're taking it back that's going to resonate with that magabase,
and there's a lot of evidence that that may be true.
(21:50):
And I think he's he's clearly was using this hour
or so to shape that argument with his base. There's
been some criticism of this, you know, you think of
someone like Tucker Carlson, who's been openly critical of some
of the decisions the administration has made. This is a
real attempt by the President to go straight at that argument.
I think it's I think it's going to be relatively effective.
(22:12):
At the end of the day, the person the Magabase
trusts the most is Donald Trump. He knows that, and
as long as he never turns his back on them,
they're going to be with him.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Fascinating conversation with the help of Lester Munson and Jeanie Shanzano.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Many thanks to both of you.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
We're going to need your help next week as we
unpack all of what we have learned here today.
Hosts And Creators
Tim Stenovec
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