‘Peace president' Donald Trump is ‘threatening war’ again - this time on Venezuela

US president Donald Trump, who was unsuccessful in his efforts to receive a Nobel Peace Prize earlier this month, could once again be undermining his whole “peace president” messaging, as it’s been reported the Republican is considering a military operation inside Venezuela to tackle cocaine facilities and drug traffickers.

According to one of three US officials who spoke to CNN, “there are plans on the table that the president is considering” when it comes to targets inside the South American country, but added Trump “hasn’t ruled out diplomacy”.

Earlier this month, Trump gave the CIA permission for “covert action” against Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s government, and said defense officials were “looking at land” strikes in the country.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who heads up the recently renamed ‘Department of War’, announced two strikes on alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Pacific Ocean, killing five and taking the death toll from the Trump administration’s attacks to more than 30 people.

A day later, Trump told reporters he doesn’t think “we’re going to necessarily ask [Congress] for a declaration of war” against the drug cartels, instead saying his administration is “just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country”.

“They’re going to be, like, dead, OK,” he added.

And then on Friday, Hegseth announced he had sent a massive aircraft carrier to the Caribbean, in yet another escalation.

All of this has prompted social media users to criticise the decisions taken by the Trump administration:

Journalist Mehdi Hasan sarcastically referred to Trump’s “antiwar president” messaging, writing “give him a Nobel”:

And high-profile Democrat Bernie Sanders contrasted “threatening war with Venezuela” with “$0 to lower your premiums” and “$0 to prevent 15 million Americans from losing healthcare”:

Trump failed to receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, as it was instead given to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who went on to dedicate the award to the US president.

Indy100 has contacted the White House for comment

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