Did Trump Just Dump Us?

With millions of other Americans, I voted for Donald Trump in part to get us out of other peoples’ sandboxes in all parts of the world. So how has it happened that we will now “run” Venezuela?

The operation to capture and remove Nicolas Maduro was carried out brilliantly by Delta and TF 160. (One piece of advice for my friends in the SOF community: don’t do the same thing twice.) But Maduro was merely a figurehead, as is his replacement, Mrs. Rodriguez. The real power is held by the commander of the army and the Interior Minister, who controls the police. Are we in communication with them? And did we need to remove Maduro in order to talk to them?

Last fall, Maduro offered us a deal similar to that now proposed by Mrs. Rodriguez. President Trump turned it down. Did we just undertake a major (and risky) operation in Venezuela because President Trump has a personal dislike for Maduro? If the answer is yes, all Trump supporters have a problem.

And why should we care about Venezuela? It is just one more sad case of socialism ruining what was a wealthy country. Yes, it has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. But the oil market is swamped with supply, and Venezuela’s thick, tarry oil is difficult to refine. President Trump’s plan that American oil companies will go in and restore Venezuela’s decrepit oil infrastructure is likely to go nowhere. He convened a meeting at the White House to get the CEOs of the oil companies to sign up, but they didn’t. They have to answer to investors who know Venezuela is a bad bet.

From a troubling venture into another country’s internal affairs, President Trump is now leading us into something out of a comic opera, an American invasion of Denmark. Is Mr. Trump showing, in such a nutty action, what might be called, ahem, Mr. Biden’s problem?

Denmark has already offered us everything we need in Greenland: military bases, mineral rights, good spots for whale watching, etc. What do we do if, following an American invasion of Greenland, Denmark invokes Article 5 of the NATO treaty whereby an attack on one member is considered an attack on all? Will we see American troops under NATO command fighting other American troops taking orders from President Trump? All this needs is music by Lehar (and perhaps a Danish Q-bomb).

Whatever sauce you are on at the moment, Mr. President, please get off it. We didn’t vote for you so America could play more games overseas. What Americans, and the Republican Party, need from you now is laser focus on the affordability problem. We know you are doing some good things in this area. I cheered when you said you won’t allow big real estate companies to buy up more individual houses and turn them into rental property, which destroys communities by replacing long-term residents with transients. As someone up in years, I get constant calls from companies wanting to buy my house; most of the voices sound Chinese.

But your foreign ventures, not the good work you are doing in domestic policy, are what get the headlines. So at least between now and November, put foreign policy on the back burner and let Americans hear every day about what you are doing to lower prices for homes, cars, and everything else. Remember why we elected you. And don’t become a member of the Impeachment of the Week Club, which you will if Democrats take the House.