Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez leaves a confidential briefing with Pete Hegseth and Marco Rubio on Tuesday. The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State informed Congress for the first time about the goals and intentions of their Venezuela policy.Image: keystone
December 17, 2025, 5:40 p.mDecember 17, 2025, 5:40 p.m
Since Beginning of September The USA bombs suspected drug ships off Venezuela in the name of fighting drugs. A week ago, US soldiers seized off the coast Venezuela’s an oil tanker. A day later, the US imposed sanctions on all ships transporting Venezuelan oil. Yesterday Donald Trump announced a complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers. Venezuela must return stolen “oil, land and other assets” to the USA.
What exactly Trump means by this is unclear. It is believed that he is referring to the nationalization of Venezuela’s oil fields in 2007. This ended with a loss, especially for the US company Exxon. The takeover offer from the state-owned company PDVSA was not enough for Exxon. However, a court ruling in the second instance ruled in favor of PDVSA.
The US bombing of ships in the Pacific continues. On Monday, the US military released video footage of three more attacks on boats, leaving eight more dead. The deadly ship attacks are illegal. The crew of the boats are liquidated without trial. The USA does not provide any evidence that these are drug smugglers.
US attack on suspected smuggling boat off Venezuela
Video: watson/X
The case of the sea blockage also seems clear: “A blockade is by definition an act of war,” Adam Smith, representative of the Democrats in the House of Representatives, told Jen Psaki on the news channel MS NOW (formerly MSNBC). Psaki, the former press secretary to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, now works as a political commentator at the renamed TV network. The Democrat Joaquin Castro chose a similar formulation. He also called the sea blockade without a doubt an act of war.
Thomas Massie is of the same opinion. The Kentucky Republican has one along with two Democrats Was submitted power resolution – a resolution on war powers. The three want to prevent further military activities. The process now triggers a chain of events in Congress that have more symbolic than practical impact. In the best case scenario, there will be a vote in Congress on Thursday.
Is as a troublemaker and “Mr. No” known: the libertarian Republican Thomas Massie, who repeatedly strays from the party line.Image: keystone
Although a federal law, the “War Power Resolution” is considered toothless. The attack on Iran’s nuclear program in June also took place without a congressional resolution. Barack Obama (Air Force operation in Libya), Bill Clinton (intervention in Kosovo) and many presidents before them also used the military without congressional approval. As a result, legal action against a president never took place. The conflicting parties in the US Parliament often came to an agreement in other ways.
It is remarkable that a Republican opposes Trump’s policies so publicly while making common cause with the Democrats. According to the US Constitution, the US President does not have the authority to launch wars on his own. Only Congress has the authority to declare war. Accordingly, Smith calls Trump’s actions “an unconstitutional expansion of his power.”
Last night, President Trump addressed US citizens with a speech. He is expected to primarily praise his achievements to date – including in the fight against drugs. The deadline for publishing the Epstein files expires on Friday. Thomas Massie had a hand in that too. That’s why Donald Trump recommended back in October that the man be voted out of office as quickly as possible. Trump advisors have set up a Super PAC specifically for this purpose.