MAGA lawmaker claims Venezuela is giving nuclear material to Hamas in bizarre rant
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) raised eyebrows on Fox Business Tuesday when she endorsed a U.S. invasion of Venezuela — but then she took it a step further, telling anchor David Asman, with no evidence, that Venezuela is "giving uranium" to hostile foreign powers and terrorist groups.
"This is going to be a very major success story, not only for [the Venezuelan people], but for us," said Salazar. "And I salute President Trump for having the fortitude, the courage, the political vision to be doing this. Because [Nicolas] Maduro is the head of a transnational criminal organization. Maduro is not the legitimate president of the country, so we're not invading a sovereign country that has a free and fair elected democratic president. No. This guy is a thug."
"And he's good friends with Hezbollah, and they're giving uranium to Hamas and to Iran and to North Korea and to Cuba and to Nicaragua," she continued. "Come on. It's time for the United States to do what we need to do. And thank god that Trump is doing it."
She went on to say Venezuela has "the largest reserves of oil in the world" and it'll be a "windfall" for America.
While Venezuela does have speculated uranium reserves, and the Iranian government helped carry out exploratory operations in 2009, there is no evidence that Venezuela is even currently mining uranium, let alone exporting it to any of the countries or groups Salazar mentioned.
Despite the questionable uranium claims, Venezuela has seen extreme economic and political repression under Nicolás Maduro, who has assumed the presidency for multiple terms by banning key opposition leaders and holding sham elections. Millions of people have fled the country to escape hyperinflation, hunger, and authoritarian policies.
The United States has sanctioned the Maduro regime for years under presidents from both parties, but Trump has escalated, with not just harsh new sanctions, but reportedly plans for attacks on military assets under the guise of drug strikes.
Trump could ignite global chaos by giving the wrong ‘wink and nod’ on China trip: analyst
President Donald Trump may send the wrong signals to Chinese President Xi Jinping when he travels to China later this week, and that could ignite a new round of global chaos, according to one analyst.
Trump is scheduled to visit China between May 13 and 15, where he will meet with Xi and perform what is known as the "great kowtow," according to political columnist David Rothkopf of The Daily Beast. He noted during a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" with host Joanna Coles that it will be the first time in American history that the President of the United States visits China while not being the most powerful leader in the world.
Rothkopf also noted that the dynamic between the two world leaders has some people worried that Trump may inadvertently send the wrong message to Xi, one that escalates the likelihood of another global conflict.
"There is a long history of world leaders making their way to China, the middle kingdom, because it was so important," Rothkopf said. "In this case, we have our wannabe king going to their successor to the emperor, but Xi Jinping is the emperor, and what is going to happen is that same thing that has happened throughout history, which is called "The Great Kowtow," when these leaders come in, and they have to bow to the Emperor of China. Trump is going to do a bunch of that. You just know that he is."
Rothkopf noted that there is plenty of stuff Trump could ask Xi for help with on the trip, such as his disastrous war in Iran. That could give Xi enough leverage to get Trump's help with a move that benefits China.
"In private meetings, this is what really worries people: Is he going to give a wink and a nod and say, 'I don't really care so much about Taiwan, ' or 'Help me out on Iran, and I'll help you out with Taiwan,'" Rothkopf said. "Nobody knows because everybody knows Trump doesn't actually believe in anything that doesn't put money in his pocket."
