(The Hill) — Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) said he believes that President Trump will not send troops to Venezuela, amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and the South American country.
“He’s made it very clear we’re not going to put troops into Venezuela,” Mullin told host Dana Bash on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “What we’re trying to do is protect our own shores.”
Trump said Saturday that the airspace above Venezuela is completely closed off. Earlier this month, the Federal Aviation Administration advised pilots to “exercise caution” near the country’s airspace.
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” the president said on his Truth Social platform Saturday.
Trump also told military personnel on Thanksgiving that the U.S. will take action “very soon” against alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers on land. The president has authorized a series of strikes on accused drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and East Pacific since early September, killing over 80 people.
“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” Trump said Thursday. “The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.”
But Mullin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, denied that the president has “committed” to authorizing air strikes on Venezuelan soil, instead saying that Trump is being “proactive.”
“This is what peace through strength looks like,” the Oklahoma Republican added. “We’re not going to wait until you come to us. We’re going to go to you if you threaten our country.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom administration officials have called an “illegitimate leader” at the head of a drug-trafficking gang, has deployed thousands of troops in response to the U.S.’s actions in the region.
Trump and Maduro spoke last week and discussed a possible meeting, the New York Times reported Friday.