There is a certain eerie familiarity to the Trump administration’s slow roll to war with Venezuela. There is the ominous military buildup, the shifting rationales, and even a shaky claim of “weapons of mass destruction,” thanks to the administration’s recent reclassification of fentanyl, to help justify its attacks.

The conflict with Venezuela will probably play out differently than the Iraq War did—perhaps better, perhaps worse. But the moral basis upon which it is being waged is most certainly worse.

The administration initially justified its campaign, which has already involved 28 known U.S. attacks against boats that officials have claimed were carrying illegal drugs, as a defensive war to stop the flow of drugs. “This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X last month.

Given Venezuela’s slight role in the supply chain of illicit drugs to the United States, and President Donald Trump’s otherwise fairly lax approach to the narcotics trade—he has pardoned or granted clemency to more than 90 drug criminals across both terms—whispers began circulating recently that the true motive was pecuniary, that Trump was really interested in Venezuela’s oil. “This is a shakedown—a financial shakedown, being done primarily for profit,” one official told my colleagues Vivian Salama and Sarah Fitzpatrick last week.

This secret motive didn’t stay secret very long. Last week the president told reporters that the U.S. had seized a “very large” oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela “for a very good reason.” Asked what would happen to the oil, he responded: “I assume we’re going to keep the oil.” Trump then demanded this week that Venezuela pay for the oil assets the country had apparently stolen from the U.S. Speaking to reporters, he framed the conflict as retribution: “They took our oil rights. We have a lot of oil there. As you know, they threw our companies out, and we want it back.” Trump has ordered a naval “blockade” aimed at Venezuela’s oil industry.
—Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic