Top Democrat reveals Donald Trump is turning America into ‘regional bully’ to benefit his donors and himself

The House is voting today on a resolution that directly tells President Trump to pull US military forces out of Venezuela. This move is the latest effort by Democrats to try to limit the president’s increasingly aggressive actions in the Western Hemisphere.

Democrats say this resolution is absolutely necessary, especially since the US already conducted a raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. They’re also worried because the president has stated plans to control the country’s massive oil industry for years to come. They argue Congress needs to assert its role in determining when the president can use wartime powers, per AP.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, didn’t hold back during the floor debate. He slammed the administration’s strategy, saying, “Donald Trump is reducing the United States to a regional bully with fewer allies and more enemies.” Meeks added that this behavior isn’t making America great, but rather, “It’s making us isolated and weak.”

Trump needs to be pulled back

Of course, Republicans aren’t just sitting quietly while Democrats try to curb the president’s power. Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, slammed the Democrats, accusing them of bringing the resolution to a vote simply out of “spite” for President Trump. Mast actually praised the administration’s actions, stating that the president “brought Maduro to justice with possibly the most successful law enforcement operation in history.”

While the administration insists there are no US troops currently on the ground in Venezuela, and they committed last week to getting congressional approval before launching major military operations, Democrats are still pressing the issue. They feel the president has pushed the limits of executive power farther than ever before.

The administration left Congress completely in the dark ahead of the surprise raid to capture Maduro. It has also used evolving legal arguments to justify blowing up alleged drug boats and seizing sanctioned oil tankers near Venezuela.

This is where things get really interesting, because Senate Democrats are now questioning exactly who benefits from the lucrative Venezuelan oil licenses that the US administration is currently overseeing.

In one of the first major deals, the US gave a license to Vitol, which is the world’s largest independent oil broker. That license was worth around $250 million. The connection is a senior partner at Vitol, John Addison, who donated roughly $6 million to political action committees aligned with President Trump during the election.

Thirteen Democratic senators, led by Sen. Adam Schiff of California, wrote a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles demanding full transparency on Thursday. They want to know about “any financial commitments, promises, deals, or other arrangements related to Venezuela that could favor donors to the President’s campaign and political operation.” The White House, for its part, maintains that it’s safeguarding the oil for the benefit of both the US and the Venezuelan people.

This aggressive push in Venezuela isn’t the only thing causing friction. The president’s overall aggressive foreign policy is starting to frustrate even some members of his own party. For example, President Trump’s insistence on possessing Greenland, despite Denmark’s objections, alarmed several Republicans on Capitol Hill. This behavior led them to mount some of the most outspoken objections to the president’s actions since he took office.