'Sick and
tired.' MTG calls Venezuela strike betrayal of MAGA
Karissa
Waddick USA TODAY
Rep.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, blasted President Donald Trump’s attack on
Venezuela and removal of its leader, President Nicolás Maduro, describing it as
a sharp departure from his "America first" campaign promise.
Greene,
who earlier this year had a public falling out with Trump, criticized the
military move as unaligned with Trump’s vow during the 2024 presidential
election to end the United States' involvement in foreign conflicts.
While
Greene said she didn’t support Maduro’s leadership and was "happy"
for the people of Venezuela, she expressed doubt that Maduro’s capture was
related to narco-terrorism and the flow of drugs, as Trump has suggested.
America
First? What Trump's startling arrest of Maduro tells us.
Speaking
to NBC’s "Meet the Press," Greene argued that if Trump cared about
drug trafficking, he’d be focusing on other entities, including Mexican
cartels.
"This
is the same Washington playbook that we are so sick and tired of that doesn't
serve the American people, that actually serves the big corporations, the
banks, and the oil executives," Greene said on "Meet the Press".
"My understanding of America first is strictly for the American
people."
Earlier
this year, Greene announced plans to resign from Congress after a feud with
Trump over the release of documents pertaining to convicted sex offender
Jeffrey Epstein and airstrikes on Venezuelan boats Trump alleged were carrying
drugs. She will serve her last day in office Jan. 5.
But her
comments reflect a growing chasm in Congress, including among some Republican
lawmakers, over the president’s actions in Venezuela.
Oil
interests in Venezuela
Trump,
during a press conference, defended the attack as part of his America First
agenda, arguing that he wanted to protect oil interests in Venezuela.
"We
want to surround ourselves with good neighbors. We want to surround ourselves
with stability. We want to surround ourselves with energy," Trump told
reporters. "We have tremendous energy in that country. It's very important
that we protect it. We need that for ourselves, we need that for the
world."
Venezuela
has the largest oil reserves of any country worldwide. But the reserves have
been almost completely off limits to American oil giants since Venezuela placed
them in the hands of a state-run company in the mid-1970s. Chevron is the only
American oil company that has been allowed to operate in Venezuela.
Trump
suggested that Maduro’s capture would open Venezuela’s reserves to major oil
and gas companies in the United States.
"We're
going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of
dollars," Trump said. The cost, he said, will be "paid for by the oil
companies directly," but they will be "reimbursed."
Greene,
Democrats and some fellow disgruntled Republicans have questioned the
president’s motives, and floated concerns about the extent to which an American
president can order military action without congressional authorization.
"We
don't consider Venezuela our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is right here in
the 50 United States, not in the Southern Hemisphere," she said in
response to Trump’s comments on "Meet the Press."
Rep.
Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, who has also feuded with Trump before, similarly
questioned the president’s decision to take over Venezuela.
"25
page indictment but no mention of fentanyl or stolen oil," Massie said in
a post on X, referring to the Justice Department’s indictment of Maduro.
Other
Republicans have staunchly defended Trump’s military campaign as pro-American.
"President
Trump is putting American lives first, succeeding where others have failed, and
under his leadership the United States will no longer allow criminal regimes to
profit from wreaking havoc and destruction on our country," House Speaker
Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, said in an X post.
Trump’s
feud with MTG
Preparing
to soon leave Congress, Greene on Jan. 4 addressed her monthslong feud with
Trump, a once close ally, who called her "wacky" and a
"traitor."
She
alleged the president began to lash out at her after she began pushing for the
Department of Justice to release federal files related to Jeffrey Epstein, the
disgraced financier accused of trafficking hundreds of underage girls.
The
Justice Department began to release thousands of pages of the files in late
December.
"Demanding
transparency for that should not lead to the president, who I helped get
elected and supported far more than pretty much any Republican in Washington,
it should not have led to him calling me a traitor," Greene said Jan. 4.
"That is absolutely unacceptable."
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