US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded answers Monday from the Trump administration on its actions in Venezuela, warning that American involvement could escalate into "endless wars."
"House and Senate leaders will meet with senior administration officials to ask questions about what is going on in Venezuela, try to get to the bottom of it and what the plan is moving forward. An all-senators briefing is also being organized for later this week. I demanded these briefings immediately after the strike on Saturday. The administration owes Congress and the American people some pretty basic answers to many important questions," Schumer said during his speech on the Senate floor as Congress returned for the new year.
He criticized Trump's approach, saying it risks broader military involvement.
"The chaos Donald Trump has engendered in Venezuela leads him on in his mind to think he should try the same thing in Colombia, in Iran, even in Greenland. But the danger in Venezuela is only beginning. Donald Trump has opened a Pandora's box, and things will get out of hand very quickly," he said.
Schumer pressed the administration for specifics on its plans. He questioned whether the US intends to engage in nation-building, deploy troops on the ground, and the potential costs and duration of such actions, stressing that these questions must be answered to Congress and the American public before further steps are taken.
He emphasized that Americans "did not sign up for another round of endless wars" and expect Trump to focus on issues at home, including health care, housing, energy and groceries.
"Donald Trump's promise to keep us out of foreign entanglements is now as worthless as his promise to release the Epstein files," he added.
