Not to toot my own horn but I was able to break the news of the strikes and operation underway in Venezuela due to my phone absolutely stuffing a stroke at 1 am EST. @bief57 here is what President Trump discussed
Here are the key takeaways from the speeches.
President Trump
- President Trump was clearly tired. This is the biggest thing to me and it shows how involved he was in monitoring the situation and being engaged in the execution of it.
- He stated the U.S. would "run the country" till a judicious transfer of power could take place.
- There was a planned second wave of strikes that were to be much wider and severe but due to the success it was not needed.
- Investment is going to flood into Venezuela.
- He highlighted both the successful surgical operations the U.S. has carried out like the take out of ISIS leader, Quds Force Leader, and Iran's nuclear complex along with failure ones like the Iranian rescue mission that failed under President Carter.
- Stated that Ven. had acquired new offensive weapons a huge concern to the Admin.
- American Embargo on Venezuela oil remains in effect
- Highlighted the Monroe Doctrine @freetx was SPOT on with his comment here. #1402402
- Trump warned that Ven. military officials face the same consequences as Maduro if they fail to follow the law.
- This made the Western Hemisphere much safer.
Sec. of "War" Hegseth
Had a short speech he gave stated that like Iran Maduro was warned and given multiple times to stop this from occurring but like Iran he chose not to.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine
- Called Operation Absolute Resolve and had been in the works for months
- This operation was authorized by the President at 10:46 PM EST
- Aircraft launched from 20 different bases and over 150 aircraft were airborne
- Aircraft flew at 100 ft above the water and as they approached a pathway was cleared by aircraft
- 1:01 AM EST the apprehension force landed at the compound
- Helicopters were under fire when they landed at the compound and overwhelming force was used to neutralize the shooters. A helicopter was damaged but remained flyable and no soldiers were died.
- As force withdrew they did have to return fire in self defense
- At 3:29 AM EST helicopter returned over water with Maduro and his wife
Sec. of State Rubio
- Maduro was not the legitimate President and that it wasn't just the U.S. who said that it was an international agreement.
- Maduro was given many offers to avoid this and did not take them up and acted "like a mad man"
- He had invited Iran into the country, took American's prisoner, and used them as bargaining chips.
Q&A Trump Answers
- U.S. will run with a group of people in Venezuela (transition government), oil companies will invest to reinvigorate the industry, people forced to flee the country will be able to return and the U.S. will reimburse them. People are also being appointed to lead the transition
- Did not rule out boots on the group if it comes to it.
- VP is being sworn in and is in contact with Sec. Rubio and has been open and willing to working with the U.S. a much different view that what we had seen earlier from the Ven. leader of the military.
- Sec. Rubio and Sec. Hegseth are going to be a team working with people in Venezuela to
- This is America First by surrounding America with friendly neighbors and ensure safety.
- When asked about Cuba the President mentioned that the Cuban country is in a bad bad state. He had Sec. of State Rubio speak more on it and Sec. Rubio highlighted how Maduro had to rely on Cubans for its intelligence apparatus as well as his personal security.
- The U.S. isnt going to be spending money the oil companies are going to spend the money and get reimbursed by what comes out of the ground. Any cost the U.S. incurs will be recouped by what comes out of the ground.
- Does not think that the Noble Peace prize winner will become the head because he does not think she has the support from the entire country that would be needed.
- The wealth take out of the ground is going to go to the people of Venezuela, the oil companies, the people forced to flee Venezuela, and the U.S. to make up for the seized
Q&A Sec. Rubio Answers
- President Trump was asked about notification of Congress and he turned this over to Sec. of State Rubio. Sec. Rubio stated this was not a mission you could notify Congress on as it was a trigger operation. This was a law enforcement action with Department of War support. Touched on again that the conditions that needed to be met as well as it being a primary law enforcement action this was not something you could notify Congress ahead of time. President Trump also added at the end that Congress has had leaks and that would have been terrible for the operation. Plus this was also something that everyone knew was coming.
Anyone else think that he took a page out of the Saddam treatment with this photo?
This is so clearly the late great Hannibal Lecter.
That was the first thing I thought of when I saw it.
Rubio framed this as a DOJ-led law-enforcement action with DoD support and said it wasn’t a mission suitable for advance congressional notification (members were told afterward).
Implication: the administration is signaling a legal theory meant to operate outside normal war-powers expectations.
Trump also said the U.S. would be reimbursed from Venezuela’s oil revenues while describing U.S. firms spending billions on oil infrastructure.
Implication: oil cashflow is part of the stated operational logic, not just background context.
And AP describes “Operation Absolute Resolve” as months in planning with 150+ aircraft from ~20 bases.
Implication: that scale makes the authority question unavoidable.
Thanks for the summary.
😎😎😎
Trump is a war criminal and USA is a global imperialist bully.
US petrodollar wealth is built upon US military aggression, not free trade.
幹你娘。可憐中共國的系統那麼了不起,卻還是沒有正經的海軍。
the effort to track events in real time and summarize the implications is valuable and adds to the discussion.
The continuing embargo on Venezuelan oil, combined with the promise of new oil investment under US direction, opens the door to a realignment of the country’s economic base. If managed well it could restore production and revenue flows but if mishandled it could reinforce dependency and spark resistance from internal actors who still hold influence. The mention of reimbursing displaced Venezuelans is significant but the practicalities of that are unclear.
The willingness to keep military boots available if needed underscores how volatile the situation remains. Despite the capture of Maduro key figures in the regime are still free and capable of undermining any transition. Success here will depend less on what was accomplished in one night and more on the ability to stabilize institutions over the next weeks and prevent either a resurgence of Chavismo or a slide into uncontrolled factional conflict.
Even if parts change later, early signals like this shape how people understand risk and next moves.
I have my own theory, which might one day make it into textbooks 🤔 that if the most powerful man in the world likes underage girls, oil will become cheaper as a result!?
Trump was slurring words like Biden out there. But still more cogent and coherent.
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