President Donald Trump is under fire from both Democrats and conservatives over his Venezuela policy, which they call “a reckless mission” that could put U.S. troops in legal jeopardy. The administration’s recent strikes on Venezuelan boats, which Trump claims were smuggling drugs into the U.S., and the possibility of strikes on Venezuelan soil, have drawn sharp pushback from critics across the political spectrum.
One of the harshest critics is MS NOW host and former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough, who didn’t mince words on Monday’s broadcast of Morning Joe.
Joined by retired Gen. Mark Hertling, former commander of U.S. Army Europe, Scarborough ripped into Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s approach, calling it a “shoot-first/ask-questions-later” strategy that ignores standard military protocols.
Scarborough warned that the president is creating a dangerous legal trap for U.S. troops. He told the panel — which included Hertling, fellow host Mika Brzezinski, Axios’ Jim VandeHei, and former AP reporter Jonathan Lemire — that Trump is “accusing…. senators of treason, talking about their hanging, for simply going back and saying you don’t have to follow illegal orders that would have you held responsible…. that would have you, in the end, found guilty for war crimes, or murder.”
In other words, following Trump’s orders could land soldiers in court, not for defying commands, but for obeying them. Scarborough called it an “extraordinarily dangerous legal situation” — a warning few in Washington would take lightly.
VandeHei questioned the very purpose of the mission: “There’s a whole other layer that we haven’t even talked about. This is: Why are we there in the first place? The (Trump) Administration has done a terrible job in explaining: Are we there for oil? Are we there for strategic purposes? Are we there to truly stop drug smuggling? And if we are, is that really the best use of American military — to have our troops on a ship on the coast, targeting drug runners, maybe keeping a little bit of cocaine, or keeping a little bit of drugs, from getting into the U.S.?”
He added, “It’s not going to have any effect whatsoever on the amount of drug use or what’s getting shipped in into America. And so, that piece…. has been baffling to a lot of Republicans.”
Even conservative critics who typically defend assertive U.S. military action are left scratching their heads. Scarborough and Hertling painted a picture of a mission with unclear objectives, murky rules of engagement, and serious legal consequences — one that could put American troops on trial.
Watch the segment below:
