Democratic lawmakers and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) expressed concern Wednesday that the seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker by the U.S. could further increase tensions between the two countries, while other GOP senators said they were awaiting more information.
“It sounds a lot like the beginning of a war,” Paul told NewsNation’s Hannah Brandt on Capitol Hill.
The libertarian senator, a frequent critic of the Trump administration’s posture towards Venezuela, added that it is not “the job of the American government to go looking for monsters around the world, looking for adversaries and beginning wars.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Conn.) echoed Paul’s worries, telling NewsNation that while he does not know the details of the incident, he is “gravely concerned that [Trump] is sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela.”
Coons, the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, noted that he has not received a detailed briefing on the administration’s plans for a potential war with Venezuela, the path forward or how to manage risks.
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