The president’s dissatisfaction has crystallized around national security adviser John Bolton and what Trump has groused is an interventionist stance at odds with his view that the United States should stay out of foreign quagmires.
By Anne Gearan , Anne Gearan White House reporter Email Bio Follow Josh Dawsey , Josh Dawsey Reporter covering the White House Email Bio Follow John Hudson and John Hudson National security reporter focusing on the State Department and diplomacy. Email Bio Follow Seung Min Kim Seung Min Kim White House reporter Email Bio Follow May 8 at 7:51 PM President Trump is questioning his administration’s aggressive strategy in Venezuela following the failure of a U.S.
But Trump has nonetheless complained over the last week that Bolton and others underestimated Maduro, according to three senior administration officials who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. But Trump has expressed concern that Bolton has boxed him into a corner and gone beyond where he is comfortable, said a U.S. official familiar with U.S.-Venezuela policy.
In both cases, the administration has adopted a get-tough policy that appeals to Trump’s instincts to project American power abroad but that also echoes the kind of military adventurism he has long ridiculed. During the Putin call, Trump expressed his concern about the security and humanitarian situation on the ground in Venezuela, a person briefed on the call said. Putin agreed with Trump’s assessment but said that the U.S. position has solidified Maduro’s grip on power in Venezuela.
“Providing food to starving children isn’t interference. It’s support; it’s what we do,” Pompeo said. “It’s in our deepest traditions of humanitarian assistance. The interference has taken place; the Cubans are there. They’ve interfered. So I hope Mr. Corbyn will ask the Cubans to cease their interference in Venezuela.”
Trump is now not inclined to have any sort of military intervention in Venezuela, two officials and an outside adviser said. “He’s in the same mind-set that I’m in, and that is that we’ve got to stay the course, it’s working,” Rubio said in an interview.
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