On Sunday’s Face the Nation, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D‑MD) accused the Trump administration of lying to the American people about the rationale behind the recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Van Hollen challenged President Trump’s claim that the strike was aimed at stopping the flow of drugs into the United States, calling it “obviously” untrue. “This has never been about stopping drugs from coming to the United States,” he said. “We all support stopping drugs. This from the beginning has been about getting rid of Maduro, grabbing Venezuela’s oil for American oil companies and Trump’s billionaire buddies. That’s what this is about.”
The senator said that, despite drug interdiction being cited by the administration, Trump spent a significant portion of his post‑operation remarks discussing oil. Van Hollen called this focus “‘outrageous,’ arguing that the United States should not risk American lives to benefit big oil interests and wealthy allies of the president.
Van Hollen also referenced Trump’s past comments about the Iraq War, saying it illustrated a pattern of shifting narratives. “Donald Trump claimed that he’d been against the war in Iraq from the beginning,” the senator said, arguing that the record did not support that assertion. “But what we do know is… this is what drives Donald Trump. Our servicemen and women perform magnificently. But I think it’s outrageous that the United States puts American lives at risk so big American oil companies and his billionaire buddies can profit.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Van Hollen said that if Democrats regain control of either chamber of Congress, they will use that platform to expose what he described as misleading justifications for the Venezuela operation. “We need to go directly to the American people and make it very clear,” he added, emphasizing his view that the true motive was economic rather than national security.
