Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., warned that Venezuela’s socialist regime has become a direct threat to the United States, adding that President Donald Trump is finally taking decisive action after decades of failed policies.
Tuberville, appearing Wednesday on Newsmax’s “National Report,” said the long-running war on drugs has cost American lives, with little accountability from the foreign governments enabling it. He said Trump is the first president willing to confront the problem head-on rather than manage it around the edges.
“We’ve had a war against drugs for 25 years, and people need to understand they’re killing our people every day,” Tuberville said. “This is the first president that says enough’s enough. We’re going to strike back.”
Tuberville described the administration’s approach as a “seek-and-destroy mission,” aimed at Venezuela and its authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro. According to Tuberville, the country has become a hub not only for drug trafficking, but also criminal and terrorist activity that threatens U.S. security.
“Maduro is a communist killer, and President Trump is cutting off the head of this snake slowly,” Tuberville said. “Venezuela needs to understand it’s time to shut this off.”
Tuberville said the issue extends far beyond narcotics. He said Venezuela is deeply involved in gunrunning, money laundering, and selling oil on the global market to fund what he called narco-terrorism.
Tuberville also claimed the regime has ties to extremist groups, warning that Venezuela’s geographic position makes it a staging ground for hostile actors entering the Western Hemisphere.
“This is a central location for people to come from all over the world and start creativity toward terrorism against the United States,” he said. “So, it’s time a murderer left.”
Tuberville added that Trump is “bound and determined” to remove Maduro from power, saying recent drug interdiction efforts, including the destruction of vessels linked to trafficking operations, are only the beginning.
Tuberville accused Democrats of sympathizing with socialist systems like Venezuela’s. Tuberville said lawmakers in closed, classified meetings appeared more concerned with protecting Maduro’s regime than supporting Trump’s security strategy.
“They love Venezuela. They love that type of government,” Tuberville said. “But we’re not giving in to these socialist communist Democrats. We’re going to fight back.”
