The covert nature of the CIA’s international operations rarely comes to light, but on Wednesday, President Donald Trump made a surprising revelation. He publicly acknowledged granting the agency the go-ahead for undisclosed activities in Venezuela, a move that marked an extraordinary departure from standard practice for a president.
During a session at the White House, a reporter directly questioned Trump, “Why did you authorize the CIA to operate in Venezuela?”
Trump responded, “I had two main reasons for this decision. Firstly, they have been releasing prisoners into the United States.”
He further elaborated on his second motive, highlighting the issue of drug trafficking.
“Additionally, there is a significant influx of drugs from Venezuela,” he stated.
These rare and candid comments from the president occurred just hours after The New York Times disclosed that the Trump administration had given the CIA the green light to execute clandestine, lethal missions in Venezuela.
The CIA declined to comment on the report.
Asked if the Central Intelligence Agency had authority to “take out” the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, Trump said: “Oh, I don’t want to answer a question like that. That’s a ridiculous question for me to be given. Not really a ridiculous question, but wouldn’t it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?”
“I think Venezuela is feeling heat,” he added. “But I think a lot of other countries are feeling heat too.”
In a post on social media on Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. military had carried out a strike on another boat in the Caribbean which he claimed was smuggling narcotics to the United States. It was the fifth such strike since early September.
NBC News has previously reported that U.S. military officials are drawing up options to target drug traffickers inside Venezuela.
