After a briefing from top officials, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slammed President Donald Trump’s plan for Venezuela as ‘wishful thinking’ and said the kind of a regime change that he is attempting always hurts the United States. He said the briefing posted far more questions than it ever answered.
After receiving a briefing from top officials, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday slammed President Donald Trump’s plan for Venezuela as “wishful thinking” and said his agenda was bound to hurt the United States.
After receiving a briefing from top officials, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday slammed President Donald Trump’s plan for Venezuela as “wishful thinking” and said his agenda was bound to harm the United States.
Schumer said Trump did not have any concrete plan for Venezuela and that the briefing raised more questions than it answered.
“When the United States engages in this kind of regime change and so-called nation building, it always ends up hurting the United States,” said Schumer.
Trump’s top officials on Monday evening briefed the Gang of Eight along with the chairpersons and ranking members of the armed services and foreign affairs committees. As per convention, the Gang of Eight —comprising majority and minority leaders of both chambers along with the chairpersons and ranking members of the Senate and House intelligence committees— receives classified briefings on national security and intelligence-related matters.
Following Monday’s briefing, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, and General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, congressional leaders reacted along party lines. While Republicans toed Trump’s line, Democrats condemned the invasion of Venezuela.
Schumer further said he feared Trump would not stop at Venezuela and might invade more countries.
“I did not receive any assurances that we would not try to do the same thing in other countries. And in conclusion, when the United States engages in this kind of regime change and so-called nation building, it always ends up hurting the United States. I left the briefing feeling that it would again,” said Schumer.
SENATE MINORITY LEADER Chuck Schumer said the congressional briefing on Venezuela “posed far more questions than it answered,” warning that efforts at regime change historically end “up hurting the United States.” pic.twitter.com/7JzjWREpy9
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 6, 2026
Since winning the 2024 election, Trump has repeatedly listed countries and territories he would annex either through political coercion or invasions. He has said he would annex Denmark’s Greenland and would launch a military invasion if needed. He has threatened Panama with an invasion and claimed he would annex Canada one day through political coercion. At one point, he also announced that the United States would take over the Gaza Strip.
In recent days, Trump and his top allies have ramped up pressure on Denmark and have repeatedly said they would one day annex Greenland.
Contrary to Schumer, Republican lawmakers fully supported Trump on the invasion of Venezuela and the whisking away of Nicolas Maduro. They also said Trump’s violation of the legal requirement to notify Congress ahead of the military action was acceptable. They had been backing Trump well before the briefing.
Ahead of the briefing, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he had no concerns about the lack of notification for Congress and called such advance consultation “ill-advised” given the sensitivity of the mission. He said the information received so far had been “sufficient”, according to The New York Times.
Republican lawmakers also sought to downplay Trump’s statements. Despite Trump explicitly declaring he would “run” Venezuela and stating that the mission amounted to a regime change, House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “This is not a regime change. This is a demand for a change of behaviour by a regime.”
Johnson further said, “We are not at war. We do not have US armed forces in Venezuela. And we are not occupying that country.”
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