Clark County Democrats Condemn Trump’s Oil-Driven Seizure of Venezuelan Sovereignty

The Clark County Democrats condemn the Trump administration’s military action in Venezuela and its stated plan to place the country’s oil infrastructure under the operational control of U.S. oil companies with U.S. military backing. This is not diplomacy. It is a raw assertion of power that bypasses constitutional limits on executive authority and violates the fundamental right of nations to self-determination.

Equally alarming is the continued silence of Republican elected officials representing Clark County. David Stuebe, John Ley, Stephanie McClintock, Kevin Waters, Michele Belkot, Paul Harris, and John Braun have failed to publicly raise concerns or issue statements about executive overreach for more than a year, even as executive power has expanded beyond constitutional bounds. Their job is to represent the people of Clark County, not condone and enable every action of their party boss, and their deferential silence shows a lack of leadership.

In contrast, our Democratic senators and congresswoman have emphasized that decisions involving military force and foreign governance require congressional authorization. Clark County Democrats support immediate transparency, formal briefings, and a rapid transition of power back to the Venezuelan people through authentic democracy. The Constitution does not grant any president the authority to unilaterally remove foreign governments or hand a foreign nation’s resources to private corporations.

According to reporting by PBS NewsHour and Reuters, the administration has stated that U.S. officials would participate in transitional governance while U.S. oil companies operate Venezuela’s oil sector with U.S. military backing. The White House has attempted to portray this arrangement as privately financed, with U.S. corporations investing billions in oil production. This framing does not erase the reality of military force being used to secure private profit, in a military takeover of the world’s largest oil reserves.

President Donald Trump has been unusually blunt about that motive. As reported by NPR, Trump said that “a group of people would step in to run Venezuela, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,” and that U.S. oil companies would move into the region with military backing. Trump described the operation in purely extractive terms, stating, “We’re going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground.” These remarks came during the same press conference in which he threatened Mexico, and as he has

continued to publicly discuss acquiring Greenland while refusing to rule out the use of military force.

This action directly contradicts Trump’s repeated campaign promises to end wars rather than start new ones. The United States has a long and damaging history of intervention in Latin America, frequently undermining sovereignty and destabilizing entire regions. Americans have repeatedly demanded an end to these policies. This administration has chosen escalation instead.

Legal experts and international observers have raised serious questions about the legality of removing a foreign head of state through military force. Absent congressional authorization and a recognized legal framework, such actions damage U.S. credibility, weaken alliances, and further erode global trust in American leadership.

The administration has attempted to justify its actions by invoking drug trafficking, human rights abuses, or dictatorship in Venezuela. We stand strongly against all three, and we are strongly opposed to Maduro’s terrible record. However, allegations that the Venezuela invasion is about anything other than oil money collapse under scrutiny. President Trump recently pardoned Juan Orlando Hernández, the deeply corrupt former president of Honduras, who had been convicted in U.S. federal court on drug trafficking and firearms charges and was serving a 45-year prison sentence before his release. Claiming drug enforcement or corruption as a reason for military action while pardoning a convicted drug trafficker makes clear that this is not about the law. It is about oil profits for billionaires, funded by regular Americans’ tax money and backed up by the blood of our brothers and sisters in the military.

“As usual, the American working class is being sacrificed to give billionaires even more money,” said Tim Probst, Chair of the Clark County Democrats. “They cut working people’s health care to free up money for billionaire tax cuts, and now they’re using our tax money and military to give the largest oil reserves on earth to billionaire oil tycoons. This whole MAGA movement is only about more money for billionaires, and it’s time for regular folks to see through it.”

These actions occur as Trump continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen and promotes measures designed to undermine confidence in election administration. Clark County Democrats support what election officials, courts, and audits have repeatedly confirmed: U.S. elections are secure. Protecting them requires participation. Voters should register, verify their registration status, and stay informed. They should also take note of which elected officials are blind enablers of their party bosses, not once having the courage to take an independent point of view: David Stuebe, John Ley, Stephanie McClintock, Kevin Waters, Paul Harris, Michele Belkot, and John Braun. Silence is complicity.

Vote to bring America back to its senses in 2026. Register here.

Contact: Donna Sinclair Vice Chair, Clark County Democrats

vicechair@clarkcountydems.com 360-771-9310

Sources:

Louis Jacobson and Maria Ramirez Uribe (PolitiFact). “Fact-checking Trump’s claims after U.S. strike on Venezuela and capture of Maduro.” PBS NewsHour, January 4, 2026, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-claims-after-u-s-strike-on-venezuela-and-capture-of-maduro

Arathy Somasekhar, Gram Slattery & Nathan Crooks, “Trump says US oil companies will spend the billions needed to restore Venezuela’s crude output,” Reuters, January 3, 2026, https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/trump-says-us-oil-companies-will-spend-billions-venezuela-