Schumer accuses Trump of edging closer to Venezuela military conflict

Senate Minority Leader Chuck SchumerD.N.Y. issued a sharp warning Saturday about President Donald Trump's stance on Venezuela, accusing him of pushing the United States “closer and closer to another costly foreign war” without congressional approval.

In a strongly worded statement, Schumer criticized Trump's recent escalation on Venezuela and said the president has upended the Constitution.

“President Trump's reckless actions toward Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war,” Schumer said. “Under our Constitution, Congress, not the President, has the sole power to declare war, and Congress has not authorized the use of military force against Venezuela.”

The minority leader warned the president to avoid entering another foreign conflict, writing that “Americans are tired of endless foreign wars that cost the lives of countless American troops and drain precious resources.”

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“This is not an America First policy,” he added.

Schumer called bipartisan pushbackcalling on his colleagues in Congress to “unite to restore to the people the right to declare war.”

The New York Democrat's comments came after Trump wrote on Truth Social that Venezuelan airspace should be considered “totally closed.”

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“All airlines, pilots, drug traffickers and human traffickers are asked to consider the AIRSPACE OVER AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA COMPLETELY CLOSED,” he wrote.

The report comes a week after the Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines of a “deteriorating security situation” in the area.

Speaking to U.S. troops on Thanksgiving Day, Trump said the U.S. would begin stopping “very soon.” suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers “on the ground.”

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“In recent weeks, you have worked to contain Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many,” Trump said. “Of course, not much comes by sea anymore. You probably noticed this?

The president added that drug traffickers kill “hundreds of thousands of people a year” in the United States from the “poisons” they bring.

Trump didn't reject the idea dispatch of American troops to Venezuela, saying on November 17 that he had not ruled out the possibility.

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Asked if he ruled out deploying troops, Trump replied: “No, I don’t rule that out, I don’t rule out anything.”

On Friday the Minister of War Pete Hegseth defended the Trump administration's strikes on suspected drug ships in the Caribbean.

“As we have said from the beginning and in every statement, these high-impact strikes are specifically designed to be 'lethal, kinetic strikes,'” Hegseth wrote on X. “The stated intent is to stop the spread of deadly drugs, destroy drug ships, and kill narco-terrorists. that are poisoning the American people. Every trafficker we kill is affiliated with a designated terrorist organization.”

Hegseth's statement followed reports from several news outlets, including The Washington Post and CNN, which claimed that American military ordered a second strike on a suspected drug ship in the Caribbean on September 2 after the first attack left two survivors.

“As always, the fake news is more fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting designed to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to defend the homeland,” Hegseth added in his post.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash., issued a joint statement Saturday reiterating that the committee is “committed to providing strong oversight of Department of Defense military operations in the Caribbean.”

“We take seriously reports of subsequent strikes against suspected drug vessels in the Southern Command region and are taking bipartisan action to obtain a full accounting of the operation in question,” the lawmakers wrote.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

Fox News Digital's Sophia Compton, Bree Stimson, Greg Norman and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.