Even The Pentagon Is "WTF?" On Trump Threatening Venezuela

When it comes to Latin America, the Pentagon has what we might call a bit of a history. So when even the Pentagon is telling Trump to back off, things are getting real:

The Department of Defense is pushing back on President Trump’s assertion that he is refusing to rule out a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela.
“The Pentagon has not received any orders with regards to Venezuela,” Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said, according to CNN. “The military conducts contingency planning for a variety of situations. If called upon, we are prepared to support … government efforts to protect our national interests and safeguard US citizens.”
“Any insinuations by the Maduro regime that we are planning an invasion are baseless and are designed to distract from his continued efforts to undermine the democratic process and institutions in Venezuela.”
In remarks to reporters at his New Jersey golf club today, Trump said he wouldn’t rule out a “possible military option” in Venezuela.
“I’m not going to rule out a military option,” Trump said.

How nice of him.
But seriously, this is bananas: we have the Defense Department openly contradicting the President’s public statements, making it clear that they have no idea WTF he’s talking about in spokesperson-friendly language.
Apparently, brinkmanship with North Korea isn’t enough for the Trumpster Fire – now he also needs to add Venezuela to the list.
As you might imagine, response online has been…not kind:


Oy.