Notes:

What Happened on January 3, 2026

The United States government conducted a military operation ("Operation Absolute Resolve") in Caracas, Venezuela (where President Nicólas Maduro lived) to capture Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

The operation consisted of an armada of U.S. warships, at least 150 aircraft, the CIA, and Delta Force.

Maduro and Flores were flown to New York and later transported to a jail in New York City.

Source:

Nicholas, Peter; Tsirkin, Julie; Dixon, Matt; Alba, Monica; Kube, Courtney. (January 3, 2026). "A CIA team, steel doors and a fateful phone call: How the U.S. captured Maduro in Venezuela". NBC News. Retrieved 2026-01-11.

According to an official U.S. Department of State January 6, 2026 statement:

In March 2020, Maduro was charged in the Southern District of New York for narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices.

Feb 1, 2026 Update

Venezuela's Machado: 'I will be president when the time comes' | The Hill

Jan 30, 2026 Update

US lifts some sanctions on Venezuelan oil | The Hill

Jan 26, 2026 Update

Venezuela acting president says she's had 'enough' of orders from Washington | The Hill

Jan 22, 2026 Update

Energy secretary says US won't provide security for oil companies in Venezuela | The Hill

Jan 16, 2026 Update

Machado 'profoundly confident' in 'orderly transition' in Venezuela after Trump meeting | The Hill

Venezuela's Machado says she presented her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump during their meeting | NPR

Is it possible to revoke a Nobel Peace Prize? | The Nobel Peace Prize

Jan 15, 2026 Update

US seizes Venezuela-linked tanker ahead of Trump-Machado meeting | The Hill

Jan 14, 2026 Update

The U.S. Senate voted 51-50 to block a resolution that would have prevented President Donald Trump from using military force in Venezuela without congressional approval.

After voting last week to advance the measure, Senators Josh Hawley (Republican-Missouri) and Todd Young (Republican-Indiana) flipped after pressure from Trump. J.D. Vance cast the deciding vote.

Jan 9, 2026 Update

Trump met with oil executives at the White House to discuss opportunities for their companies in Venezuela.

Read more about oil companies and Venezuela in an NPR article entitled "Trump wants U.S. oil companies in Venezuela. Here's what to know".

Jan 8, 2026 Update

Five Republican senators (Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana, and Josh Hawley of Missouri) along with all senate Democrats voted to advance legislation that would limit Trump's war powers in Venezuela.

Trump responded on Truth Social posting:

Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again. This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President's Authority as Commander in Chief. In any event, and despite their "stupidity," the War Powers Act is Unconstitutional, totally violating Article II of the Constitution, as all Presidents, and their Departments of Justice, have determined before me. Nevertheless, a more important Senate Vote will be taking place next week on this very subject.

Read more about the War Powers Resolution in a Politifact article entitled "Is the War Powers Resolution unconstitutional, as President Donald Trump says?".

Jan 7, 2026 Update

The U.S. seized two sanctioned oil tankers, one in the North Atlantic (the Marinera, previously know as Bella 1), and another (the M/T Sophia) in the Caribbean Sea.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright outlined Trump's plan for Venezuelan oil.

Jan 6, 2026 Update

Trump said that Venezuela will be providing 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S.

Read an analysis of the legality of Trump's military operation in Venezuela on the FactCheck.org website here.

Jan 5, 2026 Update

Delcy Rodríguez, who served as Venezuela's vice president under Nicólas Maduro since 2018, was sworn in as the nation's interim president.

Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court on charges of drug trafficking. Maduro told U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein that he had been "kidnapped" from his home. The next court date will be March 17.

What Led Up to the Military Operation

On January 3, 2026, PBS published an article entitled "A timeline of U.S. military escalation against Venezuela leading to Maduro's capture". The article contains a chronological list of all the events leading up to the January 3 military operation, including:

• Trump's January 20, 2025 executive order entitled "Designating Cartels And Other Organizations As Foreign Terrorist Organizations And Specially Designated Global Terrorists."
• The U.S. Department of State's February 20, 2025 designation of eight organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) and Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs). The eight organizations designated are Tren de Aragua, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Cártel de Sinaloa, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas), La Nueva Familia Michoacana, Cártel de Golfo (Gulf Cartel), and Cárteles Unidos.
• Strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels which started on September 2, 2025 and continued through the end of the year (35 strikes with at least 115 people dead).
• An October 8, 2025 vote in the U.S. Senate on a measure that would require congressional authorization before engaging in further strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats off the coast of Venezuela. The measure was voted down 51-48.
• The December 10, 2025 U.S. seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela.
• The December 16, 2025 order by Trump which calls for a 'total and complete blockade' of sanctioned oil tankers coming to and leaving Venezuela.
• The December 30, 2025 CIA drone strike on a storage facility on the Venezuelan coast.

In addition, below are other related events:

On November 28, 2025, Trump announced he would be granting a full pardon to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (bold added for emphasis):

If Tito Asfura wins for President of Honduras, because the United States has so much confidence in him, his Policies, and what he will do for the Great People of Honduras, we will be very supportive. If he doesn't win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is. Tito will be a Great President, and the United States will work closely with him in order to ensure the success, with all of its potential, of Honduras! Additionally, I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly. This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success. VOTE FOR TITO ASFURA FOR PRESIDENT, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!

PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP

(Note that on December 24, 2025 Tito Asfura was declared the winner of the disputed November 30, 2025 presidential election in Honduras, edging out his opponent Salvador Nasralla by a margin of 40.3% to 39.5%.)

On March 8, 2024, Hernandez was convicted on charges of 1) conspiring to import cocaine into the United States, 2) using and carrying machineguns and destructive devices during, and possessing machineguns in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy, and 3) conspiring to use and carry machineguns and destructive devices during, and possessing machineguns in furtherance of, the cocaine-importation conspiracy.

According to court documents, from at least in or about 2004, up to and including in or about 2022, Hernández, the former two-term president of Honduras and former president of the Honduran National Congress, was at the center of one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world. Hernández abused his position and authority in Honduras to facilitate the importation of tons of cocaine into the United States. In exchange, Hernández received millions of dollars in drug money from some of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking organizations in Honduras, Mexico, and elsewhere, and used those bribes to fuel his rise in Honduran politics.

In total, Hernández and his co-conspirators trafficked over more than 400 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine through Honduras during Hernández's tenure in the Honduran government.

On June 26, 2024, Hernandez was sentenced to 540 months (45 years) in prison and 60 months of supervised release.

According to an article on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration website entitled, "Facts About Fentanyl," illicit fentanyl is, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico.

What Trump Said About the Operation on "Fox & Friends"

If you would have seen what happened, I mean, I watched it literally like I was watching a television show. And, uh, if you would have seen the, the speed, the violence, you know, they say that, the speed, the violence, they use that term, it's, uh, just, it was an amazing thing, an amazing job that these people did.

Yeah. And don't forget, I've done some pretty good ones in, uh, in other parts of the world, okay? I've done some pretty good ones, but I've never seen anything like this.

We're not a laughing stock anymore. No, we have the greatest military in the world by far. We have the greatest equipment, military equipment in the world by far. And you had to see this in real time. You had to see this, the professionalism and the, the bravery, everything, everything about it. And you almost couldn't hold them back.

But the cartels are running Mexico. She's not running Mexico. The cartels are running Mexico. And we could be politically correct and be nice and say, "Oh yes, she is." No, no, she's very -- you know, she's very frightened of the cartels. They're running Mexico. And I've asked her numerous times, "Would you like us to take out the cartels?" "No, no, no, Mr. President. No, no, no, please." So we have to do something because we lost, the real number is 300,000 people, in my opinion. You know, they like to say 100,000. 100,000 is a lot of people, but the real number is 300,000 people.

When asked about the fact that Trump did not get authorization from Congress before conducting the operation, he said:

Well, look, these are weak, stupid people, and -- they're trying to save themselves from almost destroying our country. Uh, if I didn't get elected, our country would not, I don't even think we'd have a country right now. We were heading down, we were heading down the path of destruction. We had inflation, we had high prices. They're the ones that caused high prices, not us. We're bringing the prices way down.

We have 18 trillion dollars coming back into our country. The biggest number in the history of the world, the second-biggest number was three trillion. We're at 18 trillion dollars, and it's building factories and plants. It's, it's doing things that no country has ever seen before. But as far as, uh, last night is concerned, it was really genius. What they did is genius.

They [Democrats] -- shouldn't say, "Oh, gee, maybe it's not constitutional."

We're saving lives. And by the way, the boats, every boat, because that's sort of related to this, every boat that we hit saves 25,000 lives.

When asked about the future of Venezuela's oil industry, Trump said:

Well, I see that we're gonna be very strongly involved in it. That's all. I mean, uh, what can I say? We have the greatest oil companies in the world, the biggest, the greatest, and, and we're gonna be very much involved in it. We can't do something like this, and, and we're prepared, you know, we were prepared to do a second wave, we were all set, and very per- -- this was so lethal, this was so powerful that we didn't have to, but we were prepared. We're out there with an armada like nobody's ever seen before, and we're prepared, and we're prepared, and frankly, probably thought we were gonna have to do it, but we were prepared for a second wave going in.

Well, first of all, I say that, uh, what we're doing is saving lives, because the drug trafficking is so bad, it's gotten so out of control. And, you know, when you look at, uh, when you think 97% of the drugs coming in by sea, by ocean, by, you know, by waterway, uh, 97% down, it's, it's, almost nothing left.

I mean, I don't know about what kind of an election that was, but, uh, you know, the election of Maduro was a disgrace just like my election was a disgrace. 2020 was a disgrace and, uh, you know, a real disgrace. Now, 2024 was too big to rig. Uh, but, uh, what he did was, I mean, his was open. I, I would say, frankly, you wanna know the truth? I think Charlie would've t- -- would testify to this. It wasn't a hell of a lot worse than, uh, what they did to us in 2020. It was, uh, our, our election was a disgrace in 2020, and everyone knows it. And now it's, it's come out, and it's come out even in the legal forum, but it, it was disgraceful.

When asked about the "precision" and the "and the brave men and women," Trump said:

Yeah, they're the most highly-trained soldiers in the world. There's nobody that has their talent, because it's talent, it's not just, it's not just bravery. It's bravery. You have to have the bravery. But it's talent. Nobody has talent like this, and nobody has equipment like we have. I mean, the, everything was pinpoint.

Well, remember one thing. Our country now, it's, not because of this, but long before this, almost from the time I took office, it's gone so fast. Our country is hotter than it's ever been before. And we had a dead country a year and a half ago. We had a dead country. This country was dead with Biden and with that group of people, but, and if we had that group extended through Kamala, this country would have been dead.

Source:

(January 3, 2026). "Interview: Donald Trump Calls in for a Live Interview on Fox and Friends Weekend - January 3, 2026". Roll Call. Retrieved 2026-01-06.

What Trump Said About the Operation from Mar-a-Lago

Just before Trump spoke from Mar-a-Lago, in an e-mail a White House official called the mission a "law enforcement operation" that was "conducted by the Department of War and the DEA, at the request of the Department of Justice."

Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago. Here's some of what he said:

Venezuela was increasingly hosting foreign adversaries in our region and acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten us. They used those weapons last night, potentially in league with the cartels operating along our border. All of these actions were in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy, dating back more than two centuries. … It dated to the 'Monroe Doctrine.'

We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. So we don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years.

As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust, a total bust, for a long period of time. They were pumping almost nothing, by comparison to what they could have been pumping and what could have taken place.

We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.

It won't cost us anything, because the money coming out of the ground is very substantial — so it's not going to cost us anything.

We're in the oil business. We're going to sell it to them. So we'll be selling large amounts of oil to other countries.

Source:

Bennett, John T. (January 3, 2026). "Trump: US will ‘run' Venezuela after military mission to nab Maduro". Roll Call. Retrieved 2026-01-06.

What Stephen Miller Said

Speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN, Stephen Miller (White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor) said:

By definition, we are in charge because we have the United States military stationed outside the country. We set the terms and conditions. We have a complete embargo on all of their oil and their ability to do commerce. So for them to do commerce, they need our permission. For them to be able to run an economy, they need our permission. So the United States is in charge. The United States is running the country during this transition period.

Miller also said the following about Trump's intent to acquire Greenland:

The real question, is by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark?

Read more about Stephen Miller's beliefs about colonialism and imperialism in an NBC News article entitled "Pro-colonialism talking points get a boost from top Trump aide Stephen Miller".

Former Obama Administration Official Ben Rhodes Weighs In

Former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting Ben Rhodes was recently interviewed by progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen where the two discussed the Trump administration's military operation in Venezuela.

Here's some of what Rhodes said during the interview (bold added for emphasis):

This took months to plan to assemble all the military resources there, the 15,000 US troops in the Caribbean. So, I actually think it makes it worse because I actually think that this is here to stay, this kind of foreign policy where this might not be the last place in which he chooses to use the US military for regime change purposes with no legal basis to kind of run this hemisphere like his own private empire.

When asked by Cohen how Trump's military operation in Venezuela aligns with Trump's campaigning on a platform of non-interventionism, Rhodes said:

I will say part of what we're learning is that that whole posture of being against forever wars, of being America first was bogus. I mean, if you look in just the last year, you know, in addition to the usual suspects, Trump has bombed Iran, Nigeria, and now Venezuela...He's motivated by power and money. And both of those things intersect here in Venezuela. He gets more power. He gets to be the strongman...And he talked a lot in his press conference about sending the US oil companies down there. Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves. So he sees money in this too for you know his cronies.

Regarding the money required to carry out a rebuilding of Venezuelan oil infrastructure, Rhodes said:

But so far, what we've seen them do is take these giant pots of money that exist in places like the Pentagon, you know, and just pull out of one pot and put in this pot in ways that normally would be illegal. Normally, Congress appropriates the money it's meant to be spent on certain things. They've shown time and again that they're willing to ignore that. So, the question going forward is will Congress assert itself? He already basically went to war and removed a leader without seeking any authorization from Congress. So, this is already an unconstitutional action.

Rhodes continued:

How what's this going to cost in Venezuela? What happens if there's some kind of further conflict in Venezuela, which is quite likely, or where else is Trump going to do this? Are we looking at, you know, him going to Panama? Are we looking at him he threatened Colombia today? Is the Greenland stuff going to come back on the table?...He cares about his power and he cares about wealth. He does not care about you, right? You the American voter. I mean that to me is the core point here.

When asked by Cohen about the narrative that if you don't support what Trump is doing in Venezuela, then you must approve of and/or support Maduro, Rhodes said:

There are other ways of supporting democratic change or civil society in other countries other than going to war in them, and the US track record of regime change wars on behalf of removing autocratic leaders, it doesn't usually end better than it was at the beginning.

Rhodes continued:

And and I even take it a step further, Brian, and say, you know, maybe Maduro, because Maduro is, you know, widely disliked. He's widely seen as having thrown the last election. Maybe he was the convenient pretext for, well, everybody can agree this is a bad guy, so this will be my way in to kind of get him out of there. But what I really want to do is get my
claws on the oil.

Brian, I think this is really important where there's just no rules anymore. You know, what lesson does Vladimir Putin take from this about what he's allowed to do? What lesson does China take from this about what they might be allowed to do in Taiwan? And so there's just all these traps ahead.

I guess what happens at that point when I mean it doesn't feel like it's the same I mean this is a little bit going back to what we were talking about originally but it doesn't feel like we're in the same world order than we were yesterday or 11 months ago. That's how it feels to me. It feels like we're in dangerous new terrain. And the question is how far does this go, right? Does it go to other countries? Like what does it mean to run Venezuela? Um what do the Russians and Chinese do?

He likes where he has the power. He likes hanging out with rich oligarchs. Um he likes having foreign leaders be scared of him. Um but look, none of this is what anybody here is interested in the United States. And and that's his vulnerability. And that's why to your earlier point, the argument should not just be about, oh, he didn't get Congress's authorization. The argument should be like, what the hell is he doing? He doesn't care about you. He cares about the oil companies.

Source:

(January 3, 2026). "Trump makes FATAL MISTAKE with Venezuela invasion". YouTube. Retrieved 2026-01-05.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Response

Brian Tyler Cohen post a video of Marjorie Taylor Greene speaking on the NBC News program "Meet the Press." Here's some of what she said:

And this is the same Washington playbook that we are so sick and tired of that doesn't serve the American people that act but actually serves the big corporations, the banks, and the oil executives.

We don't consider Venezuela our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is right here in the 50 United States, not in the Southern Hemisphere. And that's what Americans are absolutely sick and tired of. That was part of what they voted for in 2024. They voted to tear down the system that protects the rich powerful elites. They voted to tear down the system that consistently goes for foreign wars and regime change. They voted to tear down the system that does nothing for regular hardworking Americans and only consistently props up the big banks, the military-industrial complex and the oil executives and and major major industries.

After this regime change in Venezuela, I fear that we're going to see jobs just move south because we're already hearing about big corporations lining up their trips to Venezuela for the next big business opportunity that exists while Americans sit here with no options that are going to provide them with good paying jobs and affordable health care.

Source:

(January 5, 2026). "Marjorie Taylor Greene DISMANTLES Trump over Venezuela invasion". YouTube. Retrieved 2026-01-06.

Rachel Maddow Responds on MSNOW

On January 5, 2026, Rachel Maddow put forth her analysis of what's really going on with Trump and his military operation in Venezula. Here's some of what she said:

Maybe the most important thing going on here is that Donald Trump does not believe he needs to even try to convince you of some reason, some false reason or some true reason that explains why he is using the U.S. military the way he is.

Because what he really wants is totally unilateral, totally unaccountable, unquestioned ability to use the U.S. military anywhere for any purpose against anyone, even if it is inexplicable, or unpopular, or even illegal.

He wants to break the perceived connection between public legitimacy for military action and the use of the United States military. He wants the ability to use the U.S. military with the consent of no one.

And so we are seeing him use the U.S. military in the Middle East. Yes, like lots of other presidents. And also in Nigeria and also in Iran and also now in the Caribbean and in the Pacific and in South America and in Los Angeles and in Portland and in Chicago and in Washington.

Source:

Maddow, Rachel. (January 5, 2026). "Maddow calls out the real reason Trump invaded Venezuela". YouTube. Retrieved 2026-01-11.

Heather Cox Richardson's Response

On January 3, 2026, Heather Cox Richardson posted a 31-minute video on YouTube with her extensive analysis of the military operation and what it means going forward.

Source:

Cox Richardson, Heather. (January 3, 2026). "Understanding the U.S. Strike on Venezuela | Explainer". YouTube. Retrieved 2026-01-05.

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly Responds

In an interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly said:

What message does this send to the China and Russias of the world if we're going to engage in kind of a a second coming of of imperialism?

I think it could be the justification that uh somebody like Xi is looking for with regards to Taiwan.

It becomes more difficult for the United States to contend with those countries because they've been given that permission structure.

In the interview, Senator Kelly also posed the possibility that if China takes control over Taiwan, it could also take control of Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing capability, mirroring what Trump plans to do in Venezuela with oil.

Commentary:

Trump administration officials have referred to the military operation in Venezuela as a "law enforcement operation," but it's clear based on the degree of military support required that it was way more than just that.

The most important question is, what is Trump's real reason for the operation?

If Trump's operation in Venezuela was about drugs, then why did he pardon Hernández, who was convicted for his involvement in trafficking over 400 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine through Honduras for nearly two decades?

According to Trump's post on Truth Social, he made the decision to pardon Hernández based on information supplied by "many people that I greatly respect" that Hernández was "treated very harshly and unfairly" rather than any investigation or research that he did on his own.

This is reminiscent of the pardon Trump granted to Changpeng Zhao (the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance) where Trump said "I don't even know him," and "I heard it was a Biden witch hunt."

First, what kind of a president does such a thing?

Second, Hernández was convicted for his involvement in the trafficking of drugs to the U.S. Maduro was charged with "narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices." Both men were involved in the drug trade and responsible for huge amounts of drugs entering the U.S. Why would one be pardoned and not the other?

Trump's pardon of Hernández suggests that the military operation in Venezuela, and all of the boat strikes (35 strikes with at least 115 people dead) which led up to it was in reality a pretense upon which Trump would kidnap Maduro and seize control of Venezuelan oil. In other words it wasn't really about drugs, it was really about the oil.

What Trump did in Venezuela is not that much different than what Putin has done in Ukraine. In both cases you have a president of a world superpower nation conducting a military operation in a sovereign country.

In both cases you have a president who believes he has every right to invade another country because that country is run by a "bad guy." In the case of Venezuela, it's Maduro. In the case of Ukraine, it's the "neo-Nazi" government oligarchs.

During his second term as president, Trump has made overtures regarding Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, and Cuba.

With Trump, Venezuela is only the beginning.

What's to stop Trump from doing what he's done in Venezuela to other South American countries?

Trump and his government sycophants (like Secretary of Defense/War Pete Hegseth) are "hell-bent" on doing whatever they damn well please. They don't seem to give a damn about how other countries like Russia, and China, and the European Union perceive their actions.

For some countries, like Mexico, if Trump chooses to not send in the military, he will threaten and extort those countries into getting what he wants.

Make no mistake about it, Trump is on an ego trip that closely aligns with what Adolph Hitler tried to do starting in 1939 when his military invaded Poland.

Trump, like Hitler and Putin, is an authoritarian.

At the end of the day, Trump doesn't give a damn about the U.S. Constitution or the rule of law, and he will continue to lie and mislead in order to justify his actions.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, Trump said that the only things that limit his powers on the world stage are "My own morality. My own mind." He also said "I don't need international law." When asked about the possible acquisition of Greenland, Trump said "I think that ownership gives you a thing that you can't do with … a lease or a treaty...that's what I feel is psychologically needed for success."

It's clear that Trump's wants to control the entire Western hemisphere.

Whether that's through agreed-upon or forced acquisition, he is going to do everything in his power to make that happen.

He doesn't give a damn about decades of international law.

The only limitations Trump sees are his "own morality" and his "own mind."

Trump admits that he needs "ownership" in order to feel in his mind ("psychologically") that he has achieved success.

Trump's mindset is closely-aligned with authoritarians like Putin and Hitler.

And we should all be concerned.

Very concerned.