WASHINGTON – As a meeting last August in the Oval Office to discusssanctions on Venezuela was concluding, President Donald Trump turned to histop aides and asked an unsettling question: With a fast unravellingVenezuela threatening regional security, why can’t the US just simplyinvade the troubled country?
The suggestion stunned those present at the meeting, including US Secretaryof State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H R McMaster, both ofwhom have since left the administration. This account of the previouslyundisclosed conversation comes from a senior administration officialfamiliar with what was said.
In an exchange that lasted around five minutes, McMaster and others tookturns explaining to Trump how military action could backfire and risklosing hard-won support among Latin American governments to punishPresident Nicolas Maduro for taking Venezuela down the path ofdictatorship, according to the official. The official spoke on thecondition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
But Trump pushed back. Although he gave no indication he was about to orderup military plans, he pointed to what he considered past cases ofsuccessful gunboat diplomacy in the region, according to the official, likethe invasions of Panama and Grenada in the 1980s.
The idea, despite his aides’ best attempts to shoot it down, wouldnonetheless persist in the president’s head.
The next day, Aug. 11, Trump alarmed friends and foes alike with talk of a”military option” to remove Maduro from power. The public remarks wereinitially dismissed in US policy circles as the sort of martial blusterpeople have come to expect from the reality TV star turned commander inchief.
But shortly afterward, he raised the issue with Colombian President JuanManuel Santos, according to the US official. Two high-ranking Colombianofficials who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid antagonizing Trumpconfirmed the report.
Then in September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Trumpdiscussed it again, this time at greater length, in a private dinner withleaders from four Latin American allies that included Santos, the samethree people said and Politico reported in February.
The US official said Trump was specifically briefed not to raise the issueand told it wouldn’t play well, but the first thing the president said atthe dinner was, “My staff told me not to say this.” Trump then went aroundasking 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 clearterms they were sure.
Eventually, McMaster would pull aside the president and walk him throughthe dangers of an invasion, the official said.
Taken together, the behind-the-scenes talks, the extent and details ofwhich have not been previously reported, highlight how Venezuela’spolitical and economic crisis has received top attention under Trump in away that was unimaginable in the Obama administration. But critics say italso underscores how his “America First” foreign policy at times can seemoutright reckless, providing ammunition to America’s adversaries.