Critics of the removal from the authority of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro by the United States this weekend regularly referred to the comments of president Donald Trump from the 2016 election campaign. Trump then openly condemned the "change of the regime", creating himself as a candidate who would not intervene in the race. ‘ Donald pigeon, Hillary hawk “ – headlined the article by Maureen Dowd from The fresh York Times.
Some propose that this mission does not precisely fit into Trump's rhetoric "America first". any of them Republicans, among others Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky and outgoing Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. But to realize better what Trump ordered Venezuela, it is essential to return to 1999 erstwhile he first (shortly) sought the office of President.
During Trump's performance in the program "Hardball" at MSNBC, Chris Matthews filled the fresh candidate with independent questions about fresh adventures in U.S. abroad policy. any of his answers sounded like from the 2016 campaign. Vietnam was a “catastrophe”. What about the thought of a forced exchange of leaders we don't like in Grenada? "I don't like it." But there were any notable exceptions.
One of them was Cuba, where Trump stated that he supported the invasion of the Bay of Pigs, but in fact wants to go further – with bombings. "I don't think we would have Fidel Castro if the bombing had been carried out by Kennedy," Trump said in a 1999 interview. The second event was to remove the strong leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega – which many compare to remove Maduro by Trump.
“I usually like it,” Trump said. “What he did to Panama was terrible. I mean, in general, I'd alternatively stay out of it. But Panama is very close to us. Bad guy. Drug trafficking everywhere, killing people all over the world." This is very akin to Trump's argument for removing Maduro from power.
Indeed, Trump's criticism of "change of regime" has always had its reservations and gaps in his anti-war image, especially in the Western hemisphere. However, he did not dwell on them, as the United States was a very exhausted country of war after more than a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it was more politically advantageous to be like a candidate "goose". However, there is no uncertainty that Trump's second word of office was marked by a alternatively clear change in the definition and implementation of the abroad policy "America first".
In fresh days Trump has besides threatened another countries, including the already mentioned Cuba, Colombia, Greenland, Mexico and Iran. He had previously talked about taking over the Panama Canal and besides about making Canada the 51st state.
This year he carried out over half a twelve loud bombings on alleged drug smuggling ships in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean, as well as in Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
In just a year Trump attacked or threatened about 1 in 15 countries worldwide. It's definitely not what was advertised.
In the last decade Trump has said all of the following:
- "We must abandon the failed nation-building policy and the government change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria". (2016 Republican organization National Convention)
- "The current strategy to overthrow regimes without planning on what to do the next day only leads to a power vacuum that terrorists simply fill". (September 2016)
- "Hillary Clinton is impulsive. He rushes to invade, intervene and overthrow regimes. He believes in globalism, not Americanism." (September 2016)
- "We will break the cycle of government change and exile crisis that has lasted for so many years". (September 2016)
- "We will abandon the policy of reckless government change that my opponent prefers". (September 2016)
- "We will halt racing against... alien regimes that we know nothing about and that we should have nothing to do with." (December 2016)
- "Our policies of endless war, government change and nation building are replaced by the sober implementation of American interests. The task of our army is to defend our security, not to be a policeman of the world." (2019)
As you can see, these comments did not exclude government change, period, but alternatively presented Clinton and others versions as chaotic and counterproductive. Trump mostly focused on opposing government change and state building in the mediate East .
That is what Trump fundamentally said in the last days erstwhile he was questioned about this issue.
When asked on Saturday how the invasion of Venezuela fits into the slogan “America first of all”, Trump responded as Matthews responded.
"I think it's due to the fact that we want to environment ourselves with good neighbors," Trump said. "We want to environment ourselves with stability. We want to environment ourselves with energy."
Pressed on Sunday on his earlier comments against the "change of the regime", Trump replied: "This is not a country on the another side of the world. This is not a country where we gotta travel in a plane 24 hours a day. It's Venezuela. This is in our region."
The president added that buying Venezuelan oil would origin prices to fall, and this is “good for our country”.
That's for certain some version "America First". but it's not the same version he promoted erstwhile he first ran for president – nor even in his last campaign.
But it hasn't been long since the 2024 run before Trump started talking about the acquisition of Canada and Greenland , followed by ‘ revealed destiny This began shortly after his victory. ”
It seems to be a Trump version that has always existed, but which he simply suppressed for a while due to the fact that it was not politically feasible. And now all the people who jumped on it due to the fact that they thought it was a "goose" gotta face a fresh reality – the fact that Trump may turn out to be America's most expansive president in decades.
