Venezuela, in Donald Trump’s own words

Well, the cat is well and truly out of the bag.

This past weekend, after months of threats, the United States launched a broad military attack on Venezuela with the goal of capturing its president, Nicolas Maduro.

The mission was, at least militarily, a success: Maduro and his wife were captured and spirited from the country, and while as many as 80 died in the attack, no American military personnel were among the casualties.

But on the political side, things are a little more hazy, especially when it comes to the justification for the attack.

It’s not about the drugs. It never was. While U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration were blowing up Venezuelan boats in foreign waters, that was the first claim, even though the boats weren’t the source of fentanyl the U.S. claimed they were.

Nor is it about regime change, despite the fact that there are plenty of reasons to seek the downfall of the illegitimate and despotic regime of Nicolas Maduro.

The United States has argued that Maduro is not the legitimate head of the Venezuelan government, because the 2018 election was fraudulent — but now has recognized Maduro’s vice-president, Delcy Rodriguez, as interim president, with Donald Trump arguing that Rodriguez is “co-operating” with the United States.

If that co-operation changes, then Trump says “she will face a situation probably worse than Maduro.”

But if Maduro’s election was fraudulent, then Rodriguez, on the same ticket, has no legitimacy either. So, it’s not regime change — it’s regime acquiescence.

What seems to be important is whether Venezuela will be compliant.

More Trump words on that topic: “Don’t ask me who is in charge because I’ll give you an answer … It will be very controversial. … We’re in charge.”

And more Trump language suggests the issue is profit, not political propriety.

Asked about what the next political steps would be for the country, Trump’s response was “We haven’t gotten to that. Right now, what we want to do is fix up the oil.”

The oil.

Trump was pretty blunt about that oil, and its role in the U.S. attack.

Keep in mind, Trump didn’t tell Congress about the attack or seek congressional approval. He did, by his own admission, talk to American oil companies about it: “Before and after. They want to go in and they’re going to do a great job.”

But beyond Venezuela, the sabre-rattling has become more than unsettling.

Here’s Trump on ruling over the Western Hemisphere: “We sort of forgot about it. It was very important, but we forgot about it. We don’t forget about it anymore under our new National Security Strategy. American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again.”

After Venezuela? Trump’s words again: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and the European Union needs us to have it and they know that.”

Emboldened by the successful operation, Trump has spoken out about potential military involvement in Mexico, Iran and Colombia, and about throttling the supply of Venezuelan oil to Cuba, to the point of Cuban collapse.

“Cuba looks like it is ready to fall,” Trump said Sunday night. “I don’t know if they’re going to hold out, but Cuba now has no income. They got all their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil.” No need for military action in Cuba, he added, because “it looks like it’s going down.”

The most unsettling part is that no one in Trump’s own party seems to have any interest in reining a president who has moved from generating international chaos to making war — and killing people — as a business decision.

The danger is clear. And it’s right next door.