Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) on Monday claimed President Donald Trump is “under the thrall” of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) after the two threatened possible military action against Cuba and Colombia in the aftermath of former Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro’s capture over the weekend.
Paul said he once thought Trump was different from the two Bush presidents, who “wanted to be involved in all these crazy wars overseas.” The Kentucky Republican expressed disappointment in Trump’s burgeoning alliance with Graham, who is often described as a warmonger by critics.
His criticism comes two days after Trump announced the U.S. military bombed Venezuela and detained Maduro, citing allegations that his authoritarian regime facilitated drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. Maduro is currently imprisoned in New York to face federal charges for those crimes.
While Paul isn’t opposed to the ousting of a socialist leader, he argued that Congress should have approved the operation resulting in Maduro’s capture.
“Time will tell if regime change in Venezuela is successful without significant monetary or human cost. Best though, not to forget, that our founders limited the executive’s power to go to war without Congressional authorization for a reason—to limit the horror of war and limit war to acts of defense,” he wrote in a lengthy post on X. “Let’s hope those precepts of peace are not forgotten in our justified relief that Maduro is gone and the Venezuelan people will have a second chance.”
Graham’s response to the news about Maduro and Venezuela was much more generous toward Trump.
“If you can’t celebrate the fact that our military, under President Trump’s command, bravely captured and brought to justice an evil, corrupt narcoterrorist dictator with American blood on his hands, then your hatred of President Trump denies you the ability to celebrate making America safer and creating a path for liberating the highly oppressed people of Venezuela,” he said.
Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday, Trump hinted that Colombia and Cuba were next to be met with military force. Graham was present, nodding in agreement with the president.
“You just wait for Cuba,” Graham warned. “Cuba is a communist dictatorship that’s killed priests and nuns. They’ve preyed on their own people. Their days are numbered.”
At one point, when Trump said Cuba is “ready to fall,” Graham grinningly said, “Yes.”
In response to a reporter’s question about Graham’s warning to Cuba, Paul joked that legislation could be a viable method to prevent Graham from constantly meeting with Trump.
“There should be a law that Lindsey Graham can only enter the White House every other week and that he’s only to meet with mid-level people, not the president. No more golf outings,” he suggested. “It’s always been an anomaly because Lindsey Graham has been diametrically opposed to everything Trump has ever said on regime change.”
Although Latin American nations were quick to denounce Maduro’s arrest, some of them have not addressed the threat from Trump and Graham in a meaningful capacity. Cuba remains silent, but Colombian President Gustavo Petro vowed to “take up arms” in the event of a U.S. attack.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was born to Cuban immigrants, has been tasked with leading the overhaul of Venezuela’s government. The Trump administration says the United States is currently running Venezuela, even as Maduro was replaced by his former vice president. It remains to be seen whether the acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, will remain in power under U.S. control or will be ousted in a similar fashion as her predecessor.
Trump has also repeatedly floated the idea of acquiring the Danish territory of Greenland, including the possibility of doing so by military force.
TRUMP SIGNALS HE COULD TAKE ACTION ON CUBA, COLOMBIA, AND OTHER COUNTRIES AFTER VENEZUELA
“We do need Greenland, absolutely,” the president said in an interview with the Atlantic over the weekend, adding that it was “surrounded by Russian and Chinese ships.” Following the remarks, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen urged the U.S. to calm such rhetoric.
“It makes absolutely no sense to talk about the need for the United States to take over Greenland,” Frederiksen said. “The US has no right to annex any of the three nations in the Danish kingdom,” she said, going on to “strongly urge” the U.S. to “stop the threats against a historically close ally and against another country and another people who have very clearly said that they are not for sale.”
