"Donald Trump is lashing out abroad because he is weak at home. Hounded by a failing economy and unable to shake Epstein, Trump has reverted to a tried-and-tested playbook: a foreign war meant to rally patriotic support for a floundering presidency."

~ Andrew Wilson

#Trump #Venezuela #Greenland #Epstein #ApprovalRating
/1

https://www.lincolnsquare.media/p/trumps-foreign-gambit-and-domestic

Trump’s Foreign Policy Gambit and Domestic Polling Collapse

Just 33% of Americans approve of the intervention in Venezuela—putting it in late Vietnam War territory.

Lincoln Square

"While it might seem too early to say how Americans view the intervention, it appears to have monumentally backfired. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted January 4–5 found that just 33% of Americans approve of the intervention. That figure is only slightly higher than approval of the Vietnam War in 1973, as U.S. troops were withdrawing from the country."

~ Andrew Wilson

#Trump #Venezuela #Greenland #Epstein #ApprovalRating
/2

"Heading into the fifth anniversary of January 6, there was pressure mounting on Donald Trump, including from Jack Smith’s recent testimony on Capitol Hill and DOJ’s failure to release the full Epstein files. Given that context, we’re forced to consider whether Trump’s attack on Venezuela is, at least in part, intended as a distraction."

~ Joyce Vance

#Trump #Venezuela #Greenland #Epstein #ApprovalRating
/3

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-sunday-morning-wrap-up-e9e

The Sunday Morning Wrap-Up

Every week seems to feel like the worst week yet, but this one was truly unsettling, marked by the horrific shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent.

Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance

"When Trump asked ExxonMobil’s CEO Darren Woods [on Friday] how long it would take Exxon to restart operations there, Woods called Venezuela 'uninvestable,' suggesting it wasn’t a matter of Trump just snapping his fingers. First, 'significant changes have to be made.'”

~ Sabrina Haake

#Trump #Venezuela #oil #BigOil #EconomicElites #Exxon
/4

https://sabrinahaake.substack.com/p/big-oil-is-big-skeptical-about-trumps

Big Oil is Big Skeptical about Venezuela

Photo of Friday’s meeting from Rep.

The Haake Take

"Woods told Trump bluntly that, 'There are a number of legal and commercial frameworks that would have to be established to even understand what kind of returns we would get on the investment.'

To a failed businessman selling himself as a savvy one, that assessment must have come as a shock."

#Trump #Venezuela #oil #BigOil #EconomicElites #Exxon
/5

"After violating international law, mocking in particular the UN Charter that has kept WWIII at bay for 80 years, Trump gave U.S. oil executives their marching orders: they must rebuild Venezuela’s fossil fuel industry.

But after bankrupting six businesses, killing small companies with illogical tariffs, and closing one failed business after another, Trump’s hyped business acumen is thin."

#Trump #Venezuela #oil #BigOil #EconomicElites
/6

@wdlindsy

A good question is how are US persons going to rebuild their oil industry when they at risk of torture and death by just being in the country?

https://ve.usembassy.gov/security-alert-venezuela-january-10-2026-do-not-travel-to-venezuela-depart-immediately/

Check out this report on anticipated Venezualan guerrilla response to US military actions.

https://warontherocks.com/2025/12/weak-in-battle-dangerous-in-resistance-venezuelas-military-preparedness-and-possible-responses-to-u-s-action/

How do they plan on dealing with roving bands of guerrillas setting up roadblocks and killing Americans?

@mastodonmigration Yes, a really important question, and it appears it's foremost in the minds of oil executives Trump is trying to bully into investing in Venezuela — because they do not trust him to assure stability.

@wdlindsy

Indeed. Imagine what it would take to 'insure stability' in the jungles and urban mazes of Venezuala.

@mastodonmigration May not be an issue since Trump's moves are based on global & regional circumstances that no longer exist, and there may be no takers for his offer. @wdlindsy