Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Sunday intensified her criticism of President Donald Trump's military strike on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, calling the move a betrayal of the "America First" agenda that helped elect him.
Greene Says Venezuela Strike Betrays America First
Speaking to NBC's "Meet the Press," Greene argued that the Venezuela operation and the capture of Maduro by the Trump administration, which campaigned on Make America Great Again, wasn't "America First," adding that if Trump cared about drug trafficking, he'd be focusing on other entities, including Mexican cartels.
Greene, a Georgia Republican and longtime immigration hard-liner, said the administration's rationale of targeting "narco-terrorists" rang hollow given that most fentanyl deaths in the United States have been linked to Mexican cartels, not Venezuela.
"This is the same Washington playbook that we are so sick and tired of that doesn't serve the American people, that actually serves the big corporations, the banks, and the oil executives," Greene said on "Meet the Press." "My understanding of America first is strictly for the American people."
See Also: What To Expect From S&P 500 And Nasdaq On Monday After Trump’s Venezuela Strike?
Congresswoman Links Drug Crisis To Mexican Cartels
Her television appearance followed a series of posts on X a day earlier in which she highlighted cartel-driven fentanyl trafficking and questioned why, if the mission was truly about saving American lives, Trump had not used the United States’ power against those groups.
The Georgia republican’s remarks highlight a widening split inside the Republican Party over Trump's decision to seize Maduro and declare that the United States will "run" Venezuela while tapping its vast oil reserves, a move Trump, according to a Reuters report on Saturday, has framed as part of his America First mandate to secure energy and "surround ourselves with stability."
Growing Republican Rift Over Venezuela
Most prominent Republicans and many of Trump's core supporters have backed the Venezuela raid as a necessary show of strength, while Democrats and some civil-liberties groups warn it revives memories of past US interventions in Latin America and could drag the country into a long occupation.
It is worth noting that Greene announced in November that she would resign from Congress after a bitter feud with Trump over the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents and expiring health-care subsidies. Her last day in office is Monday, Jan. 5.
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