Trump suggests US could take action against more countries
He threatens Colombia and its president, says Cuba is ‘ready to fall’ and renews his push for Greenland
[WASHINGTON] President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday (Jan 4) that the US could take action against other countries after its attack on Venezuela. He threatened Colombia and its president, described Cuba as “ready to fall” and reasserted his desire to take control of Greenland.
Trump has been facing questions about his plans for Venezuela since a US raid in Caracas captured the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, and brought him to New York City to face federal drug-trafficking and weapons charges. As Trump took questions about that on Sunday, he spoke of other countries in Latin America and beyond.
On Air Force One, Trump told reporters that Colombia was being “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the US”.
“He’s not going to be doing it for very long,” he said of Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, who has frequently criticised Trump. “He has cocaine mills and cocaine factories.”
Trump and Petro have been locked in an escalating dispute over the US’ series of boat strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, which have ratcheted up pressure on Colombia, a nexus of the region’s drug trade.
Asked whether his administration would carry out an operation targeting Colombia, Trump replied, “It sounds good to me.”
Trump also suggested that the US could take action against a number of other countries, including Mexico and Iran, over a range of issues.
He said that drugs were “pouring” through Mexico and “we’re gonna have to do something”, adding that the cartels there were “very strong”.
In Iran, which is being roiled by protests, Trump said, “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the US.”
Trump suggested that military intervention was unnecessary in Cuba, a key ally of Venezuela, because it was “ready to fall”.
“I don’t think we need any action,” Trump said. “It looks like it’s going down.”
“I don’t know if they’re going to hold out, but Cuba now has no income,” he added. “They got all their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested earlier on Sunday that Cuba could face US military action.
On Meet the Press on NBC, when asked whether Cuba was the Trump administration’s “next target”, Rubio said, “The Cuban government is a huge problem.” Pressed again, he said, “They are in a lot of trouble, yes.”
Rubio had accused the Cuban leadership of “propping up” Maduro’s Venezuelan government and sponsoring his internal security apparatus, including his personal bodyguards. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has said for decades that the leadership of Cuba must be removed, and that toppling the Maduro government would help lead to a transformation in Cuba.
On Air Force One, Trump also reiterated his desire to take control of Greenland, the semi-autonomous Danish territory that he has said the US must acquire for security purposes.
“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” he said, describing the region as “covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place”. NYTIMES
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